Emily and Harry Potter
by theShadowhuntressNymph
Summary: Emily and Harry Potter are twins, while one grows up in the House of Lions and accepted by a family of red heads, the other grows up in the House of Snakes welcomed by a very blonde family. Both dream of different futures but if either wishes to have one at all they must learn to work together to overcome the deadly obstacles in their way.
1. The Aftermath

**Hi guys, unfortunately I had my old laptop crash. Nothing was salvageable after the blue screen of death but I have purchased a new laptop and am working to get my works updated. That being said, I have had many of you request this story be placed back on fanfiction but since it cannot be uploaded as a read the book fic I have edited the story and am uploading it here for you all to hopefully enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter but I thank JK Rowling every day for giving us such a fun world for our minds to get lost in.**

The Aftermath

On the dark streets of Godric's Hollow a frantic man raced towards a damaged looking house that still seemed to have smoke coming from an odd shaped hole in the roof. The man had shoulder length black hair and was dressed in form fitting leather pants with a white tee shirt, while he seemed mostly normal what stood out about his attire was the dark black cloak that billowed behind him as he rushed towards the broken gate. Without a thought, he tossed the broken wood aside and made his way up the short path to the house.

Upon reaching the door the man seemed to suddenly still. Hesitantly he stepped over the threshold, subtly flicking his wrist a stick appeared in his hand. The man made a short upwards motion with his hand and the tip of the stick began to glow. He made it silently through the sitting room, the furniture seemed to have been blown aside by great force leading straight to the stairs where he froze.

Looking down the man stared at the lifeless body that lay on the ground, he closed his eyes unable to bare looking into the open brown eyes of the man before him. Crouching down he whispered a few short words as he reached forward and shut the man's eyes hopefully allowing his spirit to see far better things than the ruins where he lay. Suddenly a piercing cry met the man's ears and he quickly stood up, shock coursing through him.

With an apologetic look the man stepped over the body and darted up the staircase. The door to the room he was approaching had been blasted open, cautiously he waved his stick in front of himself before heaving a sigh of relief.

Entering what was clearly a nursery the man made his way to the crib. He paused briefly to close the eyes of the woman he found lying on the floor. She had done what she had set out to do, the children in the room were safe it was time for her to rest.

The man tucked his stick away and began to tend to the crying children. He embraced them in his arms as best he could and began to rock the pair back and forth. He made shushing noises and whispered softly hoping to stop their cries.

He finally had quieted the children down when a noise startled him from below. Quickly placing the children back in the crib, the man wiped fiercely at his eyes destroying the evidence of his silent tears.

With a flick of his wrist the stick was back in his hand. Holding the stick in front of himself the man made his way back into the hallway and towards the stairs. Carefully glancing around the corner he was surprised by the sight of a giant standing at the bottom. The large man had scraggly hair and a large beard that covered most of his face. Keeping his arm raised the man cleared his throat.

"Hagrid…" he called out when the giant didn't immediately turn towards him.

"I never… never tho… though' it would happen…" the giant hiccupped slightly as he finally turned his attention to the other man. His face was stained with tears as he shook his head. "How? How could this happen?"

"Hagrid, I know you're upset but I need you to focus and answer a question for me. Can you do that?" Seeing the giant nod his head the man continued, "What did I do the night you found me drunk in my sixth year?"

"Yeh set me bed on fire when I took yeh back to me hut to sober up."

The dark-haired man nodded as if the giant had passed his test. "I am still sorry about that by the way."

"S'okay," the giant shrugged starting to look around the room.

"What are you doing here Hagrid?"

"Dumbledore sent me ter get the twins out o' here."

The man took a moment as he seemed to think through that statement. He looked back down the hall he had come from before nodding and heading towards the nursery. Pulling the children back into his arms, he carried them over to a changing table where he made sure they were warm and wrapped tightly within a blanket. As he slowly walked back down the hall he hoped he was making the right decision.

He found Hagrid waiting by the once fireplace. "Hagrid, I want you to take my bike. Get them to safety as fast as you can."

The giant rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeh sure about this?"

"Yes," the man answered offering the children over. "I can't take them with me for what I need to do."

"Need ter do?"

"I have a rat to hunt down…"

Nodding Hagrid reached out to take the twins into his large arms. "Yeh sure I should be taking your bike though?"

"We don't have much time, Hagrid. Just take the bike and get them to a safe place."

"Right, right…" the giant seemed to sense the urgency in the other man's voice. "We better get going then."

The man stepped forward and kissed the foreheads of both children whispering his love for them and promising to return once he had dispensed of the traitorous vermin.

Forcing himself to leave the house he glanced behind him to see the giant cautiously making his way out the door. Certain he was doing the right thing he vanished into thin air with a soft pop never knowing what that one choice would cost him.

ooOoOoOoo

Privet Drive was about as normal a street in Little Whinging, Surrey as you could find or at least that is what the residents of the street believed themselves to be. The wives gossiped while pretending to prune trees, held weekly book club meetings as an excuse to drink wine and enjoyed the occasional cheeky glance over a hedge or out a curtained window to snoop on their neighbors. The men for their part went to work daily, proudly supporting their families and enjoyed showing off their new company cars on the weekends in order to impress the others on the street.

One such couple who fully enjoyed the normality of life on the quiet street were Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. The pair lived at Number Four Privet Drive with their young son Dudley. Despite their outward appearances Mrs. Dursley had a very unusual sister, a sister her little family liked to pretend didn't exist. To the Dursleys any abnormality was frowned upon and Mrs. Dursley's sister and her husband were glaring black spots that they could not allow in their lives. They never mentioned the sister or her freakish ways and they hoped the day never came where they would be forced to explain the existence of such an imperfection to their neighbors.

The Potters, as they were referred to by the people who knew them, were not welcome on Privet Drive. The pair had attempted early on to reach out, especially after they had welcomed their twins into the world, a little boy and girl. It was in vain as the Dursleys would not hear of it and the more the Potters pushed the more worried they became of their interference in their perfect lives. The Dursleys were adamant that they would not allow the freaks to influence their sweet little Dudders, who knew what could happen if he was exposed to such abnormal children as the Potters. It could not and would not be allowed. Eventually the Potters stopped pestering them and the Dursleys could relax and focus on ensuring the growth of their perfect little boy.

When Mr. Dursley left for his morning commute to work he was oblivious to the day that awaited him. Upon entering London, he encountered people dressed in all colors of cloaks with various styles of odd hats on their heads. He supposed it was the latest fad but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why people would want to look like they were wearing some odd modern form of a centuries old attire. Instead of letting it bother him too greatly he chose to ignore the odd people even when they tipped their hats in his direction.

As the day wore on oddities continued to occur, it was hard not to notice mass amounts of owls flying in broad daylight. Mr. Dursley was unsure what could cause so many nocturnal creatures to be up so early but he did his best to pretend he didn't see them swooping past his window. Instead his mantra became 'sell drills' in an attempt to remind himself of his task at hand because that was what Mr. Dursley did for a living, he sold drills.

By lunch the poor man felt he had certainly earned his lunch, a box of doughnuts from his favorite shop across the street. Mr. Dursley was disappointed to find the sidewalks were still filled with the oddly dressed people and one had the audacity to bump into him and call him a 'muggle', what did that term mean anyway?

Doughnuts finally in hand Mr. Dursley attempted to make his way back to the office only to overhear an oddly dressed pair talking in somewhat hushed tones.

"Did you hear…" Mr. Dursley leaned in but it was little use, the pair weren't talking loud enough for him to make out much of their conversation.

"It's terrible you know," one of them said nodding in agreement to whatever the first man had said.

"Little Emily and Harry…" Mr. Dursley tried to rack his brain but he just couldn't understand why those names sounded so familiar to him. Leaning back in he caught the last little bit as the men walked passed him not even noticing his presence, "I knew his dad you know the Lord Potter."

On hearing the name Potter Mr. Dursley beelined for the entrance to his building, the name was merely a coincidence, besides the men had mentioned a Lord Potter and as far as he was concerned a freak could never hold such a title.

Deciding he was over thinking things Mr. Dursley took a large bit of a chocolate doughnut and decided he was being silly. His mind was starting to make connections when there was no need to, today was merely an off day for him.

Pulling into his driveway that evening Mr. Dursley was feeling slightly better. After his lunch, his day had returned to its normal routine and now he was about to spend his evening with his wife and son. Upon climbing out of his car the man looked to the garden post where he saw an abnormally still cat sitting perched on top. He swore he had seen it earlier that day when he was leaving, certainly it couldn't have remained in the same spot all day. Shaking his head, the man attempted to scare off the animal which seemed to watch him closely with a look of annoyance.

Deciding to leave well enough alone Mr. Dursley joined his small family for dinner. Dudley spent his time kicking and screaming, much preferring the sweets his mother would offer him to be quiet and Vernon couldn't help but be proud, his son had learnt a new word, 'won't'.

Vernon reflected on his odd day as he stared out the window of his bedroom onto the street below. He had at one point upset his wife who was making her displeasure known as she huffed and turned her back to where he was standing as she settled into bed. He couldn't blame her for being upset, he had been the one to bring up the taboo subject. Earlier when the news had been playing and they were recounting the odd sightings of owls, Vernon had gotten the courage to age what his sister-in-law had named her children.

"Harry and Emily, rather unoriginal… but since when have they cared about such things," she had sniffed.

Funny, Vernon thought, he was certain the children would have been given wilder names then the sensible, rather normal names they had selected. His mistake had been saying that thought aloud to his wife. She had ignored him the rest of the night for mentioning her sister's family.

Shaking himself he let the curtain fall closed and block out the light coming in from the street lamps. Vernon was merely being silly, there was nothing to worry about or any connection to be found. Their secret was safe, it was simply a very odd day and he supposed it was rather normal for that to occur every now and then. With that thought Mr. Dursley climbed into bed next to his wife and promptly fell asleep.

Oo0o0o0oO

As Hagrid flew across the sky he had a long time to ponder the recent events and for the life of him he couldn't understand how it had come to his current journey. James and Lily had gone into hiding to protect themselves from the madman that was hunting them down only to be betrayed and killed. It had all been for nothing.

A squirming motion made him look down, the twins were tucked tightly against him. Perhaps it hadn't all been in vain, the twins had survived and if the rumors circulating were to be believed it was their power not their parents that had stopped the evil that came to end them.

Voldemort had arrived at the house at Godrics Hollow, in an attempt to end the entire Potter line, but when faced with the children he had been unable to kill them. His powers had backfired somehow leaving the house the smoldering mess he had found.

It was nothing short of a miracle that the only injury the twins seemed to suffer was a lightning shaped scar to Harry's head while Emily had a similar scar on her shoulder. How they were the ones to lead the madman to his end, Hagrid could only guess but he was grateful a part of his friends still lived on through them.

Approaching the darkened muggle street Hagrid was sad his time with the twins was about to come to an end. They would be living with muggles for the coming years and he doubted he would be allowed to visit.

It was with a heavy heart that the giant landed the bike as quietly as he could. Climbing off, careful not to disrupt the sleeping children Hagrid made his way towards an older looking man who had a long white beard and wore odd looking purple robes with golden stars shooting across it. A woman stood next to the man with a sour look on her face, her hair was tied tightly up in a bun and she wore a dark green robe that billowed slightly in the light breeze that blew through the neighborhood. If any of the street's occupants were to look out their windows at that moment they would have probably suffered a heart attack at the abnormal sight before them. The people standing in the middle of the road were exactly the type who were unwelcome in this neighborhood.

"Professor Dumbledore," the giant said nodding first towards the old man before acknowledging the stern looking woman who looked thoroughly unimpressed with his arrival, "Professor McGonagall."

"Good evening Hagrid, I hope your journey went well," Dumbledore smiled as he inspected the blanket the giant was carrying.

"I have 'em righ' here, sir." Hagrid offered over the twins who were immediately taken from him by McGonagall.

Shaking his head the older gentleman ran his hand down his beard, "Was that Sirius' bike that you rode on?"

"He told me to take it, sir. He said ter get the twins ter safety, that he had a rat or somethin' he was lookin' fer."

"Did he now?" Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment before he seemed to shake himself at the sounds of the woman singing softly to the children in her arms.

"Minerva, we don't have much time."

"I don't care what you say Albus, I think this is a terrible idea."

Nodding Dumbledore slowly approached the woman and began to look over the twins, running basic scans to ensure they didn't need any medical attention that wasn't outwardly obvious.

"I am aware of your misgivings," the woman huffed in annoyance but he continued on, "but this is for the best. They will be with family and away from the fame that is sure to plague them in our world. Wouldn't you rather they had a proper childhood, what and who could offer them normality with us?"

"I don't care what your reasoning is Albus but I'm telling you now, if I ever find out my instincts were right about these people, we will be needing a new Headmaster."

The woman's glare sent a shiver down Dumbledore's spine. He had no doubt that should he be wrong it very well could be the last thing he ever did… Quickly attempting to dismiss the terrifying thought of being hunted down by an angry Minerva, he reached out and took the twins into his arms. Looking down at their sleeping faces Dumbledore was certain he was doing the right thing. How could anyone look at these children who had survived so much and treat them with anything but love.

"Can you heal their cuts?" Minerva asked leaning over to gently run a finger over the pairs marks.

"I cannot," the old man sighed. "Some marks simply cannot be undone."

"But Harry's is right on his forehead, the poor dear won't be able to hide it."

"Sometimes scars can be useful," Dumbledore said only to be met with a look that told him, the woman thought him crazy.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid said reminding the old friends of the giant's presence. "The muggles won't be asleep much longer…"

"Right you are Hagrid, we must hurry."

"Albus, please don't do this. I can take in the twins."

"No Minerva, as I have said they should be with family. Plus, where would they stay during the school year?"

"With me at the castle."

"This really is for the best," Dumbledore said dismissing the woman's words as he walked up the path through the small front garden. Crouching down he tucked the twins into a bassinette and slipped a letter into the blankets he added to keep them warm. Turning around, he saw Hagrid with tears running down his face as he walked back to the bike he had been loaned and Minerva threw him a scathing look before disappearing on the spot.

Sighing the old man wished it hadn't come to this but there was no changing the events that had occurred. With a wish of luck for the twins Dumbledore allowed the street to once again be illuminated by the lamps that lined the road before vanishing from sight.

That night as the twins slept people all over the country were celebrating. Fireworks could be seen in the sky until sunrise the next morning but all the while the people were raising their glasses in honor to the Boy and Girl who Lived.


	2. The Vanishing Glass

2

The Vanishing Glass

Ten years had almost passed since that fateful night and yet Number Four Privet Drive remained relatively unchanged. The photographs on the walls were the main distinction that time had moved forward. The pictures once depicting a chubby baby had been replaced with a rather robust boy who sat proudly in his Sunday best smiling at the camera. Upon entering the house, one would never guess two more children lived in the home as well, for not one picture contained evidence that the family was no longer the threesome they had once been all those years ago.

But alas Harry and Emily Potter were still living with their relatives on the rather quiet street and their Aunt Petunia was on her way to wake them up. Unluckily for the twins their Aunt's voice was the first sound they heard every morning.

"Wake up!" she shrieked banging on the door to their room.

Emily who had spent most of her night awake lying sleepless next to her brother attempted to shake the boy. All she received in reply was a groan, holding her breath Emily waited for her Aunt to yell at them again but it seemed her footsteps were already retreating towards the kitchen. It wasn't but a second more until the sound of banging pots, no doubt purposefully smashed together in an attempt to wake the twins up faster, reached their little room.

Putting a hand to her head Emily squeezed her eyes shut, her head had been throbbing and she wished there was a way to make it stop.

"Does she have to do that every morning?" Harry complained pushing himself to sit upright. Stretching out he looked down at his sister who was still holding her abdomen with one hand and her head with the other.

"If you would start waking up earlier I doubt she would need to." Harry rolled his eyes at his twin but didn't argue her point.

Emily sighed as she rubbed her sore ribs, her eyes finally wanted to drift shut but she wouldn't be able to get any more sleep until she had finished her morning chores. The night had held little sleep for her, if not for her pain the haunting images that continued to plague her kept her awake. Last night she swore she had seen the face of a man with shoulder length black hair, he had looked torn as he leaned in to kiss her forehead. Was it her imagination or was the man talking about finding a rat? Something told her she should recognize this man, that he meant something to her past but that was silly. After all, the only life she knew was here with the Dursleys.

Their aunt was back and demanding to know if they were awake, Emily turned to look at her twin who was rubbing his eyes as he finally put on his glasses. "Almost ready," she called as her brother groaned.

"None of that!" Petunia shrieked through the door having obviously heard Harry. "Do you understand what day it is? You will not ruin my Dudder's birthday, now get out here and cook breakfast!"

Emily twisted her torso slightly in an effort to push herself up and earned a shooting pain through her body. Moaning she tried to ignore the discomfort as she sat upright.

"Excuse me?" clearly Aunt Petunia had heard her. Luckily for the twins she didn't wait around and once again she could be heard in the kitchen.

Harry was careful not to bump his sister knowing she was currently hurt. Emily thankfully accepted the dress her twin passed her and the pair began dressing with a rare ease for such a tight space. The twins had this part of their routine down. Though they both worried a day would come when they no longer could successfully manage to not bump the other, having gotten close already to outgrowing the small space in which they slept. The cupboard under the stairs offered little room for growing children and since that was where the twins had slept for the past ten years it was an increasing worry for them as they doubted their 'family' was much inclined to allow them a new room.

Hurrying into the kitchen knowing the consequences if they took too much more time, the twins set to work on breakfast. From the kitchen, the pair could see the dining room which had been filled with gifts for Dudley's birthday.

Rolling her eyes Emily grabbed the bacon from the fridge, whatever Dudley wished for he received. She would never understand the reasoning on why though, since half the gifts his parents purchased couldn't be used by the spoiled boy due to his extreme size. Dudley was the kind of boy who favored food and little exercise. The only time he lifted a hand other than to shovel food in his mouth was to throw a punch. Of course it was too much to ask that those punches be thrown in a fair fight. Dudley's targets were mainly Emily and Harry and while he would never be able to catch them he had friends who weren't afraid to chase them down for him.

It was no big feat to catch the twins really, since they were rather small for their age. Harry, while taller than his sister, was still on the shorter end of the boys in school and Emily certainly was the most petite girl in their year. Their rather small figures were only accentuated by the clothing the pair were forced to wear. Harry was only given Dudley's hand me downs while Emily was a bit luckier and without another girl besides her aunt in the house her clothes were purchased from the local second-hand shop.

Harry though small, was rather handsome looking for his young age, with his unruly black hair and bright green eyes. The color was slightly dimmed by the old circular glasses the boy had to wear. Harry's smile charmed him out of trouble with most of the teachers in school when Dudley's gang attempted to set him up. Emily on the other hand had dark wavy brunette hair that had auburn highlights running through it. Her eyesight unlike her brother's was 20/20 and her eyes a sparkling brown.

Despite that most found them quite good looking for their ages the twins hated their appearances, there's just not much to love when you are underfed and forced to wear clothes that make you feel ridiculous. Emily did feel guilty at times for feeling so unlucky when her brother had it far worse in her opinion, his glasses were held together by tape from all the times Dudley had broken them punching him in the face and his scar lay on his forehead for all to see while hers could be hidden on her shoulder.

Harry secretly loved his scar, it was one of the few things that he knew Dudley envied. He had even heard him asking his mom once why Harry got to have the cool lightning bolt on his head and not him. It had been one of the few times he had seen Aunt Petunia get angry with her son. Her face turned red and she smacked him with the towel in her hand.

"Hush! You know better than to ask such things," she snipped before turning her back on her son.

"But Mum! The kids at school said it looked cool and I want one too!" Dudley whined.

"Would you like us to also die in a car crash like those drunkards and leave you to an orphanage?" That had quickly shut Dudley up who shook his head no. "Good now get out and if I ever hear you speaking of this again you will not be getting that new bike you wanted!"

Dudley had needed no further incentive, he ran out the door and never brought up the subject again but Harry caught his cousin staring enviously at his scar from time to time and it made him smile. It was nice to know there was at least one thing that made him special that was denied to the spoiled boy.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen and before he had even settled down at the table he began his usual routine of berating the twins for their appearance. "Boy, fix your hair! Girl, put yours up! Do you think I enjoy finding your hair in my food?"

Uncle Vernon had long believed Harry's hair was messy by his own doing and demanded it be cut and kept at an appropriately short length. He especially hated it when Emily wore hers down and as a force of habit her hair was often in a messy bun. It was a small form of rebellion on her part as her uncle often looked at her in distaste but he obviously thought it wasn't worth the fight to tell her to put it up in a tidier fashion.

Dudley finally entered the kitchen his mother fussing behind him as he made his way towards the closest pile of gifts. Petunia kept reaching out to straighten her son's clothing and dusting invisible strands of fabric from his shoulders. In the woman's eyes, her son was nothing short of perfect and his attire needed to fit into that perfection. Emily for her part found her cousin to more aptly be along the lines of an overstuffed pig. Harry said Emily was being cruel to the pigs of the world and perhaps he was correct but it never did change the image of her cousin in her mind.

As Emily and Harry set the Dursley's breakfast on the table Dudley seemed to be attempting to count the gifts, his finger moving before it would freeze and go back to the beginning. The twins shared a look as they moved back to the kitchen counter where they were instructed to remain during meals.

"How many are there?" Dudley finally asked as he shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth.

Uncle Vernon puffed up his chest and smiled at his son, "Thirty-seven."

Dudley looked outrage at the statement and Vernon looked confused, "Last year there were thirty-eight! Why aren't there that many this year?!"

Emily started eyeing the plates the twins had set on the table, Dudley was about to work himself up into one of his usual tantrums. She was praying to whoever would listen that she wouldn't have to remake the breakfast as often happened when her cousin was upset. Her focus never left the plate of bacon as Dudley swung his arm and barely missed tossing it from the table, Emily needed to lie down and the sooner this breakfast was over the closer she would be to achieving that goal.

Her worry was for naught though as her Aunt Petunia quickly stepped in unwilling to have her son upset for more than a few seconds on his birthday. She soothed the boy by offering to buy him two more presents while they were on their usual birthday outing.

Dudley's face turned from outrage to puzzled as he attempted to do the math. He mumbled, staring at his fingers trying to work out the correct number before looking up at his mother who for her part seemed to have no idea her son was struggling to add the numbers together.

"Thirty-nine," Emily finally interjected, tired of waiting for someone to figure out what the boy wanted.

Aunt Petunia shot a look at Emily for daring to speak but she pretended not to notice staring at the wall where the china cabinet was located instead. Emily wasn't sorry for speaking out of turn, Dudley had quickly sat back down at finally having his answer and had pulled some gifts towards himself to start opening. The crisis had been adverted.

Uncle Vernon didn't even appear phased by the almost incident, instead he seemed pleased by his son's behavior. "That's my boy! He's just like me, don't you agree Tunia?"

Petunia nodded smiling at her husband and settling back in to enjoy her breakfast when the phone rang forcing her to stand up to answer it instead. The twins were not allowed to answer the phone, half of the people calling had no idea the twins even existed and it would just lead to unwanted questions if a child who wasn't their perfect Dudders answered the phone.

Petunia quickly left the room, always cautious of being too close to the twins. It didn't take her long till she returned looking rather angry. Her glare was focused on the twins and Emily knew whatever was coming they were about to be blamed for.

Turning to Vernon Petunia sniffed, "Mrs. Figg has broken her leg."

Vernon grunted waving his fork to acknowledge the statement but obviously not understanding that his wife was upset.

"Vernon."

Looking up the man swallowed his mouthful and shrugged. He didn't see the problem; the old woman had broken her leg that didn't change anything.

"Mrs. Figg insists she cannot take them," Petunia gestured sharply with her head in the twins' direction.

Dudley looked instantly shocked, he even dropped his fork ready to protest but Emily couldn't have cared about his reaction any longer, her heart dropped. Mrs. Figg was the old cat lady who lived just down the street from Number Four. She watched Emily and Harry whenever the Dursleys went out as a family. Emily didn't particularly like it there but it was better than Uncle Vernon's sister Marge who seemed to think the twins were nothing more than animals, often gifting them dog treats when she arrived. At least Mrs. Figg saw the twins as children and allowed them to their own devices which meant today Emily would be allowed to lay down for however long she desired.

A sharp pain drew Emily's attention, looking over she noticed Harry nodding towards their Aunt and Uncle. His eyes gave away his excitement, he hated Mrs. Figg's house and any prospect to avoid going there she knew he would take.

"There's always Marge," Vernon offered and Emily watched the excitement dim in her brother's eyes. "She could watch the them."

"We couldn't ask her to do that without Dudley being here."

Vernon nodded, "I doubt she would agree to it anyway."

"We could stay here," Harry offered and Emily had to suppress an eye roll. By asking to stay it guaranteed their Aunt and Uncle would do the exact opposite. If there was even an inkling that a decision would make the twins happy the plans would suddenly change.

Aunt Petunia did not appreciate the interruption and Emily decided it was best that she and her brother returned to their cupboard. Grabbing Harry by the arm she dragged him out of the kitchen and carefully climbed onto their small bed before shutting the door.

"Why are we in here?" Harry asked rubbing his arm as he settled in next to his sister. "I wanted to hear that."

"Yes, well you made sure they won't be leaving us here alone so you can check that off your list of possibilities," Emily swore her brother looked slightly happy at the thought, grabbing her side as she made to lie down she continued, "It's better we're here."

Harry dropped his head at the reminder of his sister's pain and nodded, "How are you feeling?"

"It would help if my head stopped pounding," Emily groaned as she heard a plate crash back in the kitchen.

Harry looked back at the wall in the direction of the sound, "What do you think is making him this upset?"

"I don't know, maybe he didn't like one of the gifts."

"Do you think it has to do with us?"

"I don't know," Emily answered trying to adjust herself on the little mattress. "Whatever is making him upset, you can bet it will stop when they cave."

It wasn't long before the twins heard the doorbell ring and their Aunt was rapping at their door for them to get into the lounge. The twins slowly moved into the sitting room and waited by the sofa, neither one comfortable with sitting down. Moments later they were joined by Piers Polkiss, one of Dudley's best friends and a part of his little gang. The group was feared by many of the younger kids in the area because the gang often enjoyed beating them up.

Piers turned towards Emily and winked, he had decided that girls no longer had cooties and made it his goal to annoy Emily into kissing him. He had not succeeded in his attempt but it was clear the boy had no plans to give up any time soon.

In an odd twist, Emily and Harry were going to the zoo with the Dursleys and Piers. Emily was not thrilled but by the slightly guilty look on her brother's face she could tell he was thrilled about the decision. Sighing Emily couldn't completely begrudge him the excitement but she needed to be resting not walking around a zoo. She highly doubted that if her Aunt and Uncle were forced to pay for their entrance to the zoo she wouldn't be allowed to sit on a bench somewhere close to the entrance while everyone else wandered around.

Uncle Vernon was quick to give the twins their usual warning before they went anywhere, if anything unnatural happened the pair would live to regret it. To be fair odd things did tend to occur around the twins but it wasn't as if they were trying to make it happen. Well that might not be entirely true Emily thought, there certainly seemed to be something different about her and Harry. The things that happened around them were never exactly normal and it was almost as if whatever was occurring was reacting to their very wish.

Harry had regrown his hair overnight after their Aunt had sheered him almost bald on Vernon's request. Harry had gone to bed upset because they had school the next day and the twins already were teased enough. When the pair woke the next morning, Harry didn't believe Emily when she tried to tell him that his hair looked like their Aunt had never touched it. He quickly started believing her the second Aunt Petunia started screeching about their freakish natures.

Emily's biggest clue that perhaps it was the twins causing some of the havoc, came when she was being chased by Dudley's gang. She had been running out of space as she ran around a corner and thought about the safety of her little room. She turned quickly to check on her pursuers and the next thing she knew she was safe in her cupboard.

Her feeling of safety was short lived. The Dursleys had received a panicked phone call from the school stating Emily had disappeared. Her Aunt had found her hiding in the cupboard a few hours later. She had been severely punished by a very purple looking Vernon and then locked in the cupboard for her behavior. She had tried to explain herself but even the truth sounded crazy to her.

Emily had attempted to replicate the action a few times, she wasn't always successful but when she was she was careful to return to the school yard before break was over. Harry has insisted she stop trying, so as not to get into trouble but without telling his sister he had made his own attempts to control whatever this power was. He couldn't disappear like Emily but he had in anger one day wished the teacher's hair blue and before he knew it the woman was running out of the room to a bathroom and the class was dying of laughter. Luckily for him no one could blame him as he had never moved from his desk.

As they drove Emily was too busy trying to make Piers stop putting his hand on her thigh to pay attention to her uncle's ramblings. Vernon was always complaining about something, usually it was about her and Harry but at the moment it had something to do with motorcycles from the little she heard.

Emily wanted to smack Piers but she couldn't hit the boy in the car with her Aunt and Uncle so close. Piers could easily get her in trouble and he was well aware of that fact. Emily kept trying to move her leg over but it forced her to twist her body which caused pain to shoot through her body. Sighing she had no idea how she had ended up between the door and Piers, usually Harry was sat right next to her but he was currently on the opposite end of the backseat bench. Emily had a feeling she had been set up by Dudley and his friend.

Drawn from her battle with Piers, Vernon's yelling instantly caught her attention and luckily for her, distracted her current foe. It seemed Harry had mentioned a dream they both seemed to have from time to time about a flying motorcycle. What was Harry thinking to mention that to their Uncle? Harry knew perfectly well that Vernon disliked things that did not fall into his perfect idea of ordinary and acceptable behavior. Flying motorcycles would only be seen as unnatural by their Uncle. The twins weren't even allowed to watch cartoons because of the abnormal things the characters did in them and their Uncle's fear it make give the twins freakish ideas.

Vernon was calmed by Petunia as the group pulled into the parking lot. The zoo was extremely busy that day and Emily couldn't bring herself to enjoy the rare trip out. Her thoughts kept drifting back to her dark cupboard, she willed her body to heal as best she could but it only brought her slight relief. Harry on the other hand was clearly excited and awed. He was happily eating a lemon ice pop as he pointed out animals that reminded him of Dudley, quietly of course, in his own attempt to raise his sister's spirits.

Overall Emily supposed the morning hadn't been too bad despite the pain she was still in. She found Harry's little comments amusing and it was interesting to watch the people around her. Piers for his part had been so excited about the animals that he and Dudley kept far ahead of the twins leaving Emily free to stroll without worry. Just to be safe though she made sure to stay far enough behind the boys figuring the less they saw of her the less likely Piers would remember it had been hours since his last attempt at bothering her.

When the group finally approached the reptile house Emily swore she could hear soft mumbling from inside, that had an edge of a hiss to it. Looking over at her brother, Emily noticed he seemed to be hearing it as well if the confused look on his face was anything to go by. Dudley and Piers heard nothing and quickly took off in an attempt to find the largest snake on display.

Once they had found what they were looking for the two boys pounded as hard as they could against the glass. Dudley demanded his father try but even Uncle Vernon's large fists couldn't rouse the reptile from its rest. Emily could barely take it anymore, though her side was not as bad as she expected it would be after being on her feet for so long, her head was beginning to pound. The reptile house was filled with so much chatter. Leaning against the now abandoned tank, her cousin had lost interest with, Emily closed her eyes for a moment.

"Shut up," she hissed quietly trying not to be heard speaking by her Uncle who wasn't too terribly far away from her. She heard a tap on the glass close to her head and she turned to see the snake staring straight at her. "Can you understand me?"

"Yessss…" the snake's head seemed to nod.

Emily looked towards her brother to see if he was close enough to hear. His eyes were wide as he stepped closer to her and asked, "Do you often speak to people here?"

The snake shook its head before hissing out a, "No."

"Do you have a name?" Emily asked still leaning slightly on the glass.

"The humansss call me Issshtar…"

"What are you two doing?" Piers asked as he came up behind Emily who instantly froze.

Instead of going for her, the boy looked into the glass tank and noticed the snake was awake and looking at the twins. He turned around and called out to Dudley and Vernon to come and see the snake. Dudley immediately came in between Emily and Piers knocking her to the floor. Emily felt the air leave her and the pain in her ribs started to flare once again. Grabbing at her ribs she felt anger course through her, that stupid pig! Glaring at Dudley whose face was pressed up against the glass, she wished him harm. Within seconds Dudley was suddenly falling forward and flailing to stop himself from ending up next to the snake. The glass in front of the huge tank had vanished.

Piers shrieked like a little girl as Ishtar raised her body up and began to slither out of her once cage. She seemed to pause and glance over at Emily, it was as if she sensed Emily's anger and she snapped at the terrified boy's feet. Harry merely took a step away and stared at the snake as she slithered towards his sister, a smile crossing his face momentarily as Piers ran as fast as he could out of the reptile house. Emily swore Ishtar winked at her as she slithered past and out the same way Piers had just disappeared from.

The escape of Ishtar had sent the zoo into a frenzy. The snake keepers had been sent to try and track her down. Emily highly doubted they would ever see the snake again. The zoo kept apologizing as they wrapped Piers and Dudley in blankets, the pair refused to go back into the reptile house so the workers had gone back in alone to examine the tank and try to understand exactly what had happened to the glass.

Emily and Harry did their best to stay out of view of their relatives. Emily knew she must have caused it somehow and that punishment was a guarantee but the longer she could put it off the better. She still hadn't healed from the night before. Maybe tomorrow they would just leave her in the cupboard, in the peace and dark to rest. She knew she wouldn't be able to go to school if she had another punishment. She healed far faster than normal people she assumed but it was never instant.

The drive home was agonizing, Emily who was in pain and fearing more stared out the car window in an attempt to tune out the extremely exaggerated tales Piers and Dudley were telling about their encounter with the snake. She felt Pier's hand reach out and rest on her thigh. Shoving it off, Piers turned and gave her a smile which told her she was about to regret her previous action.

"You know, now that I think about it, I saw Emily talking to the snake before Dudley fell into the tank. I think she was the one to wake it up!"

Emily shrank back in her seat and tried to ignore the eyes of her Uncle that she could feel boring into her from the rearview mirror. She really dreaded reaching the house now, as Piers satisfied with himself turned towards Dudley and started discussing what they were going to tell the rest of their class come Monday.

When they got back to Number Four tensions were high in the house. Until Piers left Emily and Harry were safe as their Uncle could not be seen to punish them with him around. Piers may have been a cruel boy but Emily doubted even he thought his words would earn her more than a tongue lashing.

Piers finally left after a small dinner had been eaten. Petunia instructed the twins to head to their cupboard as Vernon headed for his alcohol cabinet. Eventually Emily and Harry came to the conclusion that their Uncle must have been too drunk to come back for them, he was probably passed out by now.

Emily really didn't care why her Uncle never came just that it gave her time to rest. She didn't know if her body could take another beating so soon after last night and having the injury jostled when Dudley knocked her to the ground earlier. She tried very hard to avoid punishments but her brother wasn't always so careful. It hadn't taken her long after the beatings started to realize her Uncle went a bit easier on her than Harry so she often allowed herself to take the blame for his actions and bring the majority of the punishments on herself. That's not to say she was completely guiltless just she tended to have more caution in her actions then his sometimes-brash nature. Tonight though, it would have been difficult to get through and she doubted Harry could take a punishment like this alone, Vernon had been far too worked up for one twin to be enough to release all his anger on.

As Emily laid in the dark, her brother having fallen asleep, she thought over the past ten years, at least what she could remember. Living with the Dursleys was exhausting and she often found herself wishing she could recall a time when her parents were alive. She liked to image that they had loved her and Harry, that they had lots of friends and had looked at them the way she often found her Aunt Petunia staring at her little Dudders. Sometimes if she focused hard enough she could see a bright green light and hear a woman pleading. She couldn't exactly make out the words the woman was saying but she thought perhaps it was during the car crash that killed her parents. Where the green light came from she was unsure but it was something she supposed.

Perhaps, she thought, the man from her dreams the night before played somewhere in the picture but tonight she was simply too tired to think on it any longer. She needed rest because come Monday she would have to return to school and face the ridicule that always awaited the twins. It was well known by most students that Emily and Harry were disliked by Dudley's gang. The strange Potter twins, the orphans forced to live on the charity of their relatives found no reprieve with the students as nobody liked to disagree with Dudley or his gang.


	3. The Letters From No One

3

Letters From No One

Emily's wish was granted, she had time to heal and then some. By the time her and Harry were allowed out of the cupboard, even for chores, the school term had come to an end. In a way Emily was relieved but it meant the twins would be behind come the fall and that thought didn't sit well with either of them.

All the gifts Dudley had received for his birthday had been destroyed in some fashion by now. While poor Mrs. Figg who had just had her cast removed, had been pushed over by Dudley's gang. They seemed to think it funny but the older woman found little amusement in their actions and for once Dudley had been forced to apologize to someone. Petunia wasn't pleased having to force her son to offer an apology and Mrs. Figg fell lower in the woman's opinion.

Emily for her part was struggling with the 'freedom' of summer. Dudley's gang was everywhere she turned, she, having become their main target. While Dudley was their leader, it seemed his friends had taken a liking to the idea of kissing Emily. All the group's efforts went into trying to catch her. Luckily for Emily, she was rather quick and could out run the boys. The few times they had gotten too close for comfort Emily had been able to use her ability at transporting herself far enough to a safe spot while she waited them out. The gang often went home frustrated at their inability to track her down.

"I swear she just vanishes," she overheard Gordon say after she had been forced to use her ability.

"But that's not possible!" Piers cried, "She must have a hiding place, nobody can just disappear."

Malcom shrugged as he looked around the edge of the park, "We can go back towards the house, I doubt she went into the woods alone."

Emily had trouble holding in her laughter from her spot in the tree above them. The boys always seemed to be looking down, trees had become a key hiding place for the girl.

When she wasn't having to hide from Dudley's gang Emily spent her time with Harry at the local neighborhood park. The park always had plenty of adults with little children around, so Dudley and his friends tended to avoid it.

Unlike most of the children in the neighborhood, Emily was already looking forward to the coming school year. Dudley and his friends would be attending Smelting, a prestigious school that Uncle Vernon had attended in his youth. Of course, she had been the one to write the essay that got her cousin accepted but it was worth it to finally not have to attend the same school as the pig.

Petunia and Vernon had made it quite clear they would never pay for her and Harry to attend a private school, though Emily doubted they would allow her to attend one even if offered a full scholarship. Anything that put her above Dudley was a very big no, no in the Dursley household. So the twins were off to the local school.

On the day Aunt Petunia insisted on taking Dudley to purchase his new uniform the twins were left with Mrs. Figg. Petunia looked smug as she left, clearly certain the twins would be miserable in their current predicament but it was quite the opposite. Mrs. Figg suddenly seemed eager to help the pair and make them feel welcome. Harry spent his day watching telly while Emily helped the older woman bake a chocolate cake. Mrs. Figg even had some fresh strawberries to add to the filling of the chocolate icing. The cake turned out so well that the trio nearly devoured the entire thing.

Emily spent all day waiting for a cat to come dashing by, or attempt to steal some of their food and was rather surprised not to be bothered even once by the cats the older woman kept. It turned out Mrs. Figg was disenchanted with her feline companions after they had caused her to break her leg in the first place. She, like Emily, enjoyed baking and was happy to have some help in the kitchen. When Aunt Petunia returned to pick up the twins, Emily and Harry pretended it had been merely another visit of looking through scrapbooks of cats. Petunia was pleased with their gloomy appearance and the twins were quite pleased at their acting skills.

Deciding it was better not to push their earlier success Emily and Harry hid in their cupboard while Dudley showed off his new uniform. Neither twin wanted to be caught laughing after having done so well at making Aunt Petunia believe they had a terrible day. Vernon no doubt would go on and on about his days at Smelting and boast about his numerous achievements, which the twins highly doubted the man could have accomplished since in their imagination he was merely a gigantic whale. Needless to say, the twins were on an unheard of streak for getting out of punishments and they weren't about to throw that away because they couldn't stop thinking of a large whale attempting to flop across a finish line.

Emily did however wonder, how Vernon would handle what was sure to be a poor performance by Dudley in school now that Emily wouldn't be around to do his homework for him. It would be a surprise if her cousin made it past the first year without Vernon having to make a large donation.

The rest of the night was surprisingly quiet and when the twins woke up the next morning Emily couldn't help herself as her tongue slipped when they came upon their Aunt dyeing their uniforms. The kitchen smelled terrible and she may have wondered a little too loudly on why the clothes were so wet. Luckily enough Petunia genuinely seemed to miss her sarcasm. Harry smirked at his sister and mimed wiping sweat from his forehead.

The twins set about making breakfast pretending their Aunt didn't exist, her back was to them anyway probably trying to attempt the same feat. It wasn't long before Dudley came banging into the kitchen, his walking stick in hand. Emily was incredibly happy not to have to sit at the table for once because everything that the boy came near was smacked with the wooden stick. The walking stick was part of his new uniform and apparently his favorite new weapon. The young girl wondered whose bright idea it was to give an eleven-year-old boy a cane and expect him to be mature about it.

When Emily heard the thump of the mail landing in the hallway she was taking the bacon off the stove, so she nudged her brother to get going. To her astonishment her Uncle asked Dudley to retrieve the mail before Harry could even put down the plate in his hand.

Emily and Harry stared at each other not quite believing what they had heard. Dudley was not pleased with the request in the least and swung the end of his can close to his father before pointing it towards the twins, "Make them. It's not my job!"

"He asked you," Harry snapped, which had been the wrong thing to say. The small boy quickly found his cousin's cane very close to his face and held by Vernon.

"Don't be smart boy! You'll do as you're told!"

Vernon lifted the cane as Harry quickly side stepped the swing and rushed into the hall. While her brother grabbed the mail, Emily continued serving breakfast before returning to her spot behind the counter.

Harry was slow to return and Emily kept glancing at the kitchen door. When he finally entered, Harry looked a bit dazed and was staring at something in his hand. He absentmindedly handed Uncle Vernon the mail, who barely noticed the boy, before joining Emily at the counter and passing her a letter. Why would he hand her a letter? Looking down she was surprised to find it addressed to her. The paper looked like old parchment and she was certain there was no mix up as the green ink on the front clearly read:

'Number Four Privet Drive  
The cupboard under the stairs'

No one outside of Number Four knew she lived in the cupboard. Looking up Emily noticed Harry was standing in clear view of the Dursleys with his face still staring in disbelief at his hands.

"Harry…" Emily hissed in an attempt to get her brother's attention. "Harry, stop it, they'll notice."

Harry was oblivious and so Emily inched herself farther back into the kitchen and opened her letter as quietly as possible. She knew it wasn't long till the letters were ripped from their hands and she wanted to know what was inside before that happened. She started to pull out the paper and was just able to make out the header announcing, 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' when Dudley finally noticed Harry and pointed him out to his parents.

"He stole our mail!"

Emily immediately tried to hide her letter as Harry's was snatched out of his hand.

Vernon looked ready to rage at her twin before taking a glance down at the paper in his hand, the words seemed to freeze in his throat. The large man started to stutter and immediately called for Petunia. She had initially looked up at him ready to dismiss his request until she saw the fear written on her husband's face. She stood and moved to lean over the man's shoulder. Looking at what was in her husband's hand Petunia made a choking sound.

"No-no, no… Vernon!"

As her Uncle and Aunt seemed horrified, Emily took the opportunity to move towards the door. She figured if she was quiet enough she could make it there and hide the letter before her relatives remembered there was more than one twin. Her attempt was halted by Dudley who angry with the lack of attention and not sure what was going on, hit his father with his walking stick.

It seemed Dudley had shaken Uncle Vernon from his daze as the man looked up at the children in the room and screamed, "OUT NOW!"

He suddenly noticed Emily as she moved to leave the room. "Hand it over," he said holding out his large beefy fingers. Clearly, he knew if Harry had one than she must as well. Feeling slightly frustrated she handed over the letter deciding it was wiser than to fight for it. She reached for Harry and tried to make him follow her but he refused to budge, his face getting redder with every second.

"I WANT…" Emily quickly covered her brother's mouth.

"Don't, we've made it this long without getting punished," Emily whispered. "He's ready to blow."

Emily wasn't certain if her brother was truly listening to her but one more look at their Uncle who was looking rather blue and Harry allowed Emily to pull him out of the kitchen. Vernon for the first time the twins could remember, grabbed Dudley by the shirt and lifted him up, shoving him out into the hallway. "I said get out!"

Instantly Harry and Dudley started warring over who would get to listen at the keyhole as the door closed and Uncle Vernon was hidden from sight. Emily merely rolled her eyes at their antics. The boys seemed to forget the kitchen, dining room and sitting room were all connected. Emily snuck through the lounge and hid behind a cabinet to better listen to her relatives.

She seemed to catch the end of what her Aunt was saying, "…watching the house."

"They wouldn't dare."

"Vernon, just look at how it's addressed," Petunia sounded nervous.

Emily nodded, that had been a curiosity to her as well but who cared enough to try and spy on the Dursleys? Her Uncle's voice rose and Emily focused her attention back to what was happening around the corner from her.

"They have to go, we've done this long enough!"

"Vernon," this time her Aunt sounded like she was chiding her husband. "You know we can't do that!"

"Why not? We can't house two of their _kind_ any longer!"

"No Vernon, if they are watching us they will find a way to stop us. We just need to make it a few more…"

"NO! You listen here Petunia, I told you if you brought them into this house I would stamp it out of them but it doesn't seem to be working. They have to go!"

"Vernon, they will…" Petunia sounded like she was pleading with her husband. "Just wait, that's why they received these. The sooner we accept it, the sooner they are gone."

"I won't have it Petunia, I can't."

The kitchen went quiet and Emily scrambled back to her feet. Tugging on her brother's leg who was lying on the floor listening at the gap between the floor and wood of the door, she indicated they should go to their room. He seemed to understand it wouldn't be a good time to be caught snooping by his Uncle and followed his sister.

That night Uncle Vernon opened the door to the cupboard looking as if he wanted to come in, Petunia and Vernon had continued speaking privately throughout the day and it seemed they had finally decided on a next step. Emily was immediately on edge unlike Harry who was already asking questions about what had happened to their letters before Emily could stop him.

Vernon gave the twins a grimace that seemed to be a poor attempt at a smile. "They were rubbish, a joke," his voice was short. He was trying to hold back his anger for some reason but Emily doubted that could last all that long.

"They weren't yours!" Harry cried out, upset by the new revelation. "They said our names!"

"And I told you they were rubbish!" Vernon snapped. There was a tutting from behind him and Vernon took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"You two gather your things and go upstairs. Your Aunt and I have decided you should be in Dudley's spare room."

Emily was suspicious. The twins were never allowed upstairs expect to clean, why suddenly were they being offered a proper room. "Why?" she asked before she could think better of it.

"No questions!" Vernon quipped before taking another deep breath, "Just hurry up and gather your things."

Emily and Harry did as they were told but were hesitant all the same. Number Four had four bedrooms. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon shared one, while Dudley had two to himself, one for his toys and one to sleep in and the last room was reserved for guests. The guest room was mostly claimed by Marge, Vernon's sister and was a room the twins never dared to enter even to clean.

It didn't take the pair long to move all their belongings to the small bedroom as everything the twins owned fit into one cardboard box. The twins eyed the room trying to decide what was safe to touch without getting them in trouble. Everything appeared to be broken, although the books looked rather dusty and untouched. That was a find that rather excited Emily, she figured she could start reading them if they were that unwanted.

Emily began choosing a book as Harry closed the door to their room, Dudley was beginning to throw a tantrum and they could hear it all the way upstairs. His Mum and Dad must have told him of what was happening to his second bedroom. Emily and Harry were both pretty certain his fit would last for some time since the twins were invading his precious space.

Carrying the book that looked most interesting to her, Emily walked over to look out the window while Harry spread out on the bed. She knew she should be glad about the change in scenery and all the added space but all it really did was make the puzzle her mind was trying to work out more complicated. It was clear whatever those letters had held scared their Aunt and Uncle, their reaction to all of this spoke volumes. What troubled her most though was the little she had read from the letter, what was Hogwarts and why did it call itself a school of witchcraft and wizardry…

Magic wasn't real, was it? It had been something that was engraved in the twins' minds enough that she had never truly thought of the possibility of it existing outside of fairytales. Then again had she not already accepted that at times her and Harry were capable of making things happen when they wished, was that magic? Her mind turned towards what her Uncle had said earlier in the kitchen, he didn't want two of their 'kind' in the house. Did that mean Emily and Harry, as in a witch and wizard? Perhaps the twins' odd dreams even played into all of this. For all she knew one of the lights in the sky could be the flying motorcycle they had dreamt of. Emily remained at the window for a while, while she thought on the topic a bit longer. Eventually she decided she was getting nowhere and joined Harry on the bed who was already fast asleep.

The next day as the twins made breakfast Emily watched her Aunt and Uncle with caution. They were far too quiet for her liking. The pair remained silent and though her hair was down Vernon didn't yell at her to put it up once. Dudley on the other hand was sulking, he had broken a chair by throwing it at the wall and still nothing had changed. He wasn't used to not getting his way so instead of speaking or annoying anyone he sat grumpily with his arms crossed, simply staring at the food in front of him.

Harry also seemed to be sulking that morning but with a slight nudge he was prodded into helping prepare breakfast. That morning when the mail came before either twin could get it Vernon had his hand in the air to halt the pair and demanded Dudley retrieve it. The boy was further incensed by his father's demands but for some reason stomped all the way there and back. His cold demeanor quickly melted as the boy pushed the door open, waving letters in his hand.

"Look, there's more!" he called out excitedly tossing the other mail on the table.

Vernon and Harry both moved to snatch the letters from the boy's hand and Emily immediately made to stop her brother from acting on impulse. Harry wasn't the best at considering the consequences before acting and she didn't want him pushing his luck only to get punished for his once again brash behavior. She was too slow though and before her eyes all three boys were wrestling for the letters. Hiding her head in her hands she sighed and stepped out of their way.

"Go to your cupboard!" Vernon finally yelled before Petunia pretended to cough behind him. "Right... your room, go to your room!"

As she passed her Uncle she saw the man was holding his chest and panting but he had been victorious, the letters were tightly scrunch in his hand.

Sitting on the bed Emily watched her brother pace back and forth. He seemed deep in thought and Emily knew he was ultimately planning something crazy that would land him in trouble. Harry loved to make plans but they rarely had the effect he wanted them to.

Finally, Harry looked at Emily with a face she knew all too well.

"No," she said shaking her head but her brother merely smirked back at her. "I mean it Harry, no plans! We've been lucky enough that they haven't punished us for a few days. Please don't push it!"

"You don't have to join me," Harry said as he climbed into the bed.

Emily groaned, "I know, but you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

"Yeah, yeah," was Harry's reply as the pair both got comfortable. "Night Em."

"Night Har."

The next morning Emily woke to the sound of an alarm clock instead of her Aunt. Harry had fixed the broken device the day before but she worried why he had done it when the clock read an earlier time then their usual wake up hour. She turned over and kept her eyes shut pretending she didn't feel Harry slip from the bed. She had a good idea that her brother was attempting to beat their Aunt and Uncle to the mail but for the moment she couldn't be bothered. Contemplating getting a little more sleep in, she sat straight up when she heard a strangled cry. It was far too deep to be from Harry and her stomach dropped.

Running out of the room to the top of the stairs, Emily turned on the lights. The scene she found would have been amusing if she wasn't terrified of what punishment was coming the twins' way. Harry, it seemed had stepped on Vernon who was currently sat up rubbing his nose grumpily.

Vernon had obviously had the same idea as Harry and camped out in the hallway to stop anyone else from retrieving the mail before him. He angrily tossed his sleeping bag to one side before demanding Emily come and join Harry. Their Uncle's rant was rather short but Emily attributed that to his stomach as it had growled and then he suddenly ordered the pair to the kitchen to get breakfast going.

Harry was upset that his plan had been foiled but Emily was grateful all her Uncle had done is yell. It wasn't long before they could hear the mail drop and Harry rushed out of the kitchen. Shaking her head Emily snuck a quick bite of bacon since she was the only one left in the room. Harry looked dejected as he came back to help his sister finish putting the food on the table.

"He tore them up this time."

"You need to be more patient. Whoever is sending those letters hasn't given up, today makes three days of them being delivered." Harry nodded slightly as if he was agreeing but Emily knew her brother had never been very good at being patient.

When Monday came Uncle Vernon decided to call out of work for the week. His paranoia was growing with each passing day, so much so he had decided he needed to block the mail slot on the door with a short slat of wood. He kept muttering to himself about how 'their minds are different' and 'this will stop them'.

Emily doubted that covering the mail slot would stop anyone and found herself hoping her Uncle was right about these people being different when he tried to use a slice of cake to hammer in one of the nails. By the end of the week her Uncle's efforts were for not as the letters were arriving a dozen at a time. Some came through open windows, others were shoved through the cracks in doors. Vernon had become so nervous they were boarded up in the house and had no way to get out.

Slowly the family watched as Vernon came closer to snapping, it was beginning to get out of control. Twenty-four eggs had been filled with letters, causing Petunia to have her own personal break down. She had merely wanted to make a cake for Dudley who was complaining that he couldn't go to the corner shop and get a pack of his favorite cookies. Once calmed down from her panic attack she shredded the letters while Vernon in the background yelled at various customer service reps trying to find someone to blame for the 'bad' eggs.

Dudley just couldn't understand what was so special about the twins that someone was trying so hard to get ahold of them. Sadly, Emily had to concede his point, no one had ever written to the twins before. Why did someone suddenly want to speak to them? People were always quick to believe the lies the Dursleys spread about the twins and their tendencies to cause trouble, why reach out now?

Sunday was the day that seemed to cement, for Emily at least, that her Uncle had completely lost his marbles. She brought him the marmalade for his toast as usual but instead of spreading it on his slice of bread, it ended up smeared across his newspaper which he proceeded to try and eat. He trembled from his lack of sleep and the slightest noise set him off.

"No post… no post on Sundays," he kept mumbling to himself.

"Vernon, did you hear that?" Petunia said standing from her chair. She had become a touch jumpy but was far more in control than her husband.

Vernon shook his head, "No, there's no post on Sundays. There was no noise."

But he was wrong and suddenly letters flooded the room. They came in from the chimney and there had to be hundreds. Emily easily grabbed one of the falling letters but she wasn't sly enough. Uncle Vernon thundered towards her and tore the letter from her hand before picking her up and throwing her into the hallway.

Harry was soon to follow her and he made to help her stand up. "Are you okay?"

Emily nodded in return she was more shocked than anything. It had been awhile since her Uncle had been violent and she had not been expecting it. Aunt Petunia and Dudley came rushing through the doorway.

"Get your things! We are leaving, NOW!" Vernon came lumbering through the door and pushed the twins towards the stairs. "Be quick, I expect all of you back down and ready to go at quarter past!"

It wasn't long before the twins found themselves in the backseat of the car with Dudley who was still rubbing his cheek in shock. For the first time in his life, Dudley had been met with his father's wrath and when he complained that he couldn't pack everything he want Vernon had smacked him. Not even Dudley could get away with holding them up, they were leaving Privet Drive whether Dudley had all his comforts or not.

Emily and Harry held hands tightly, both scared by what they were witnessing. There was no definite spot their Uncle was driving to. He just kept driving. He often changed directions suddenly, nearly causing several crashes. Despite how much Dudley whined Vernon refused to stop the car. Emily soon wished her Uncle would give in to his son's demands as her head was throbbing from the current tantrum Dudley was having and fear of the uncertainty of what was going on didn't make matters better. Emily felt Harry squeeze her hand and she let out a sigh, the twins would make it through this madness together, like always.

When it was dark Vernon finally pulled over at a rundown hotel. Petunia rushed all three children into one of the two rooms they had purchased for the night. Dudley had been so tired he collapsed fully dressed on the closest bed and began snoring. The twins couldn't sleep like their cousin, their minds were consumed by the events that led to them fleeing Privet Drive… What was so bad about a couple of letters? Surely this would all end if they were just allowed to read them.

The next morning the twins found themselves in the lobby eating a stale breakfast, when the hotel owner came over stating he had hundreds of letters for an Emily and Harry Potter. Vernon was quick to jump up and cut off Harry's response. After Uncle Vernon returned they were immediately ushered back into the car only to drive around aimlessly once again. Vernon would stop at various points to get out and survey the different locations. Nothing seemed up to his standards and so the pattern continued.

"Dad's not right," Dudley finally decided when Vernon stopped for the fourth time.

"It's okay Darling," Petunia said turning to comfort her son. "Just a little bit longer and I'm sure I can get him to let us settle for the night."

"For the night? I'm already missing my shows!"

"I know but it can't be helped right now."

They finally came to a stop when they reached a random beach. Vernon took off, leaving the rest of them in the car as it started to rain. Dudley was still upset about his missed TV programs and the twins had come to the realization that tomorrow was their birthday. It wasn't that exciting, as the Dursleys never celebrated it but they had each other and you only turned eleven once.

When Vernon finally returned he was cradling a long package in his arms and when Aunt Petunia inquired about it all she got in response was smile. Even she looked worried about Vernon's behavior as she helped the children get on the boat. Vernon stood to the side waiting for them to all settle down before climbing in the boat himself and taking the group to a giant rock out in the water that had a small shack perched on it.

A storm was picking up as they entered the broken-down shack and a chilly breeze swept through the little island. There were only two rooms and it smelled strongly of salt inside the broken-down place. Rations for the night were some crisps and once they were gone Vernon tried to burn the bags to start a fire but the best he did was produce a little smoke. Harry practically growled when Vernon looked back at Petunia and asked if she had any more of the letters to burn.

Vernon seemed quite pleased with his choice of shack and made it known that he felt like he had succeeded in his mission to evade the letter sender. The shack was on a rock off shore, no one was getting out here and definitely not in the current storm.

They didn't have many blankets in the shack and Petunia used the better blankets to make a bed for Dudley on the couch. The twins had been tossed a thread bare blanket for the pair to share on the floor. Both Emily and Harry had no delusions that they would be able to sleep so they amused each other by drawing shapes in the sand that covered the floor.

Soon there were sounds coming from outside that did not sound like waves crashing on the rocks. "Har, what's making that noise?"

"I don't know," he said continuing to draw on the floor.

Emily turned her head and could see the clock glowing on Dudley's watch, there were only two minutes left till midnight. The sounds seemed to be getting louder and the twins were looking from each other to the door. One minute left and the sounds were even closer. Dudley's watch blinked and turned to midnight, the twins turned to wish each other a happy birthday as they always did at midnight when… BOOM.

"Har, I think someone is out there…" Harry just nodded and looked towards the trembling door.


	4. Keeper of the Keys

**4**

 **Keeper of the Keys**

BOOM

The pounding sounded again and Emily looked worriedly at the hinges, wondering how they were able to hold the door up.

"I'm the Captain!" Dudley cried in his sleep. "I tell you when to fire the canons!"

Emily and Harry quickly covered their mouths as they both tried to stop their laughter from escaping and waking the other occupants of the shack. Another pounding at the door drew the twins back to what was happening just outside the door. This time the bang was so loud Dudley sat upright and Uncle Vernon came rushing into the room, Aunt Petunia hot on his heels her face panicked looking.

"I told you Vernon," Petunia's voice shook. "I told you running wouldn't make…"

"There's no need to worry Pet. I'm armed, even they wouldn't be stupid enough to…" another bang quieted Vernon as Emily finally noticed what her Uncle was holding. What possibly possessed the man to bring a gun? Emily found her hand searching for her brother's.

The pair stood and quickly backed their bodies into the wall attempting to hide from their Uncle as he yelled at the would-be intruder, "I'm armed!"

As if in response the door finally gave way and crashed into the floor.

Everyone in the shack seemed to freeze in fear. Even Vernon who had taken a step back, pointed the gun absentmindedly upwards and away from the doorway. Emily was instantly grateful her Uncle hadn't accidentally shot the gun as it was more in the direction of the twins and could have hurt one of them. She really didn't feel safe with him having the gun, to her knowledge her Uncle had never handled one before.

Slowly Emily looked away from the barrel of the gun, that was slightly shaking in her Uncle's hands to view the intruder in the doorway. She grasped Harry's hand tighter as she stared at the large giant before them. With a flash of lightning from outside Emily could clearly make out the man's face, it was as if she had plucked him from her dreams and set him before her. She was certain it was the same man who had taken her and Harry on the flying motorcycle in their dreams. Looking out the corner of her eye she could see her brother's face looked confused, did he recognize the man as well?

"Sorry," the giant said leaning down to grab the door. Stepping into the small room he propped the door up to try and cover the now wide-open hole that was allowing more freezing cold air into the shack. He seemed to chuckle a bit but his smile was hidden by his beard. "Wouldn' happen ter have a kettle on would yeh?"

Emily's mind was racing as her brother shook his head no in answer to the giant. For Emily this was it, it was the moment that confirmed the dreams and her thoughts since reading the header of the letter. It all had to be real, why else was this familiar giant here?!

The giant seemed to huff at no verbal answer to his question and made his way over to the sofa where Dudley was trembling in fear. Picking up the scared boy he set him down on the floor and settled himself into the now vacant tattered furniture. Emily heard Harry laugh slightly before quickly stopping the initial reaction as Dudley bee lined for his parents his mouth opening and closing like a fish without a sound.

There was an odd feeling of familiarity to Emily about the man and she couldn't figure out how to describe it. It wasn't from the dreams, it was as if physically she felt something that was telling her she knew this person.

"Well just look at the two of yeh! Ye've grown so much since I las' saw yeh!" the giant said taking in the twins with a smile hidden beneath his beard. Looking at the giant Emily felt comfortable, she made to take a step forward but Harry's tight grip on her hand held her in place. "Yeh look like yer parents, Harry you got yer mum's eyes and Emily yeh got James'."

Emily tried to picture what her parents must have looked like but the vision was hard to create as she had never even seen a photograph of their parents. The twins smiled briefly at each other, neither could remember anything about their parents so to know they resembled them in any way made them feel like at least a part of them still survived. Emily looked down at her hand holding her brother's and wondered if he was attempting to envision the same thing as she was.

A loud thud snapped Emily's attention towards where her family was standing. The giant was towering over them, his arm out stretched towards the far wall. Looking at the wall Emily could see where there was now a hunk of knotted metal. The gun was discarded and useless. The look on Vernon's face was priceless, he looked hopeless and an odd squeaking noise kept coming from his mouth. He trembled and his family looked worriedly at where the gun had been in his now empty hands.

The giant turned back towards the twins his beard twitching as he chuckled, "I almost fergot ter wish yeh two a Happy birthday!" The giant started looking through the many pockets his jacket seemed to be hiding. Pulling out a pink box he made a motion with it towards the twins before setting it on the table and falling back into the couch. Emily gave Harry's hand a squeeze before she let go and slowly walked towards the box opening it cautiously. Inside was a sloppily decorated cake but it looked amazing nonetheless. Emily looked back to her brother shock clear in her eyes.

Harry slowly came up behind her and looked over her shoulder to see what was causing his sister to act so odd. The giant had gifted the pair with their very first birthday cake. Harry moved around his sister and stared up at the man, "Who are you?"

Emily's head turned to look at her brother as she nudged him in the side for his rudeness. Sighing Emily smiled at the giant man, "He means thank you."

Harry smiled at his sister sheepishly, "Yeah, sorry."

"Yer welcome, and he's righ' yeh know," the giant laughed. "I guess I fergot ter introduce me self. Rubeus Hagrid, Gamekeeper for Hogwarts School."

In that moment Emily smiled so brightly at hearing the verbal confirmation she had needed. Looking to Harry, he just seemed confused by it all.

A cold gust of air rushed through the room from the entrance and where the door was poorly set causing Emily to shiver. She thought she had hidden the action but Hagrid must have noticed her movement because he pushed himself up and moved towards the fireplace. Pulling out a large pink umbrella he pointed it at the hearth. Emily felt a very small tingle against her skin and when Hagrid stepped back a fire was roaring in the once damp spot. Suddenly warmth spread through the tiny shack, it was like being submerged into a hot bath.

Harry's stomach gave a slight growl as his body started to focus more on its hunger now that it had been warmed and Emily's mind went to the same place. The twins had been allowed the least amount of food on the insane journey Vernon had dragged them on and both were quite hungry without the option of being able to sneak food from the kitchen once the rest of the house had gone to bed. Hagrid immediately started to rummage through his jacket again finally pulling out a packet of sausages and setting to work cooking them over the fire. Somehow, he found a tea kettle and starting prepping cups of tea as well which he handed to the twins.

"Don't touch anything," Vernon warned Dudley who was looking slightly less terrified now that there was food involved.

"I didn' offer anythin' ter yeh," Hagrid said without turning to look back at the Dursleys. He pulled out a few napkins and placed a sausage on each of them handing two to the twins and keeping one for himself.

Emily started to eat as she allowed her thoughts to return to their previous line of thought, Hogwarts was real, Hagrid worked there! Gazing at the flames dancing in the once empty fireplace she couldn't shake the reminder of what it felt like when Hagrid had somehow created the flames with the umbrella. Looking over at the giant man she watched as he spoke to Harry and wondered what he might say if she asked about the motorcycle in her dreams.

The mood in the room quickly changed though as Emily realized her brother had a slightly fearful look on his face and was rapidly apologizing. "I'm sorry! I really don't know what it is!"

Hagrid stood and Harry instantly flinched. Both twins held their breath but the giant turned his focus on the Dursleys. "They don' know about Hogwarts?!" Hagrid quickly turned back to the twins, "Not gettin' your letters is one thing but not knowin' 'bout Hogwarts. Don' yeh know that's where yer parents wen' ter school?"

With that statement Emily could tell you where her parents had attended school but up until a few seconds ago she honestly wouldn't have been able to answer that question. "We really don't know anything about our parents," she started, not exactly sure if what she said would upset the giant further. "We know they died young and we were given to our Aunt and Uncle. They don't really like to talk about it."

Hagrid seemed bewildered by the revelation and quickly spun back towards the Dursleys again. He took several drawn-out steps towards the trembling family. Dudley had sense enough to take his eyes off the food and hold tightly onto his mother. "Yeh didn' tell them a thing?" Hagrid asked as he took one last step and stopped, he was now towering over Vernon Dursley once again. "they don' know 'bout ANYTHIN'? Anythin' at all?!"

Emily cringed at the man's wording, she knew he wasn't referring to her intelligence but it stung nonetheless. She wished she did know more about her parents and where she came from but unfortunately for the twins their guardians despised where they came from.

Harry on the other hand had no filter and Emily could quickly see her brother ready to protest the giant's statement without thinking it through. "We go to school, we know some things!" Harry defended.

"But we don't know anything about our parents or their lives," Emily added giving her brother a look that clearly told him he was overreacting.

Harry turned a bit pink but nodded in agreement to Emily's words.

"WHA'?!" Hagrid's outburst had all three Dursleys taking a step backward. They shrank in on each other clearly worried about what the large man might do to them. Vernon was muttering something but what he was saying Emily couldn't make out.

Hagrid shook his head and turned back towards the twins. "They never told yeh… Not even wha' yeh are…"

"And you won't tell them either!" Vernon shouted in an odd moment of bravery.

"Ah shut it Dursley," Hagrid said waving his hand absentmindedly in the direction of the small family.

"I won't…"

"You won' be quiet," Hagrid roared turning to glare at Vernon. "Yeh were left with instructions! Dumbledore left yeh a letter and yeh never told them a thing!"

Harry was clearly getting tired of the constant circle the conversation was continuing to move in because he spoke up. "What haven't they told us?"

Vernon looked ready to protest again and Petunia clasped her hand to her chest, a horrified look upon her face at what was certainly about to be revealed.

Hagrid paid the older couple no heed and smile at the twins, "Harry yer a wizard an' your sister here is a witch."

Those were the words that sealed Emily's thoughts, she finally had the verbal confirmation she had been wanting since she recognized the man.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"It has to be true," Emily answered quickly.

Hagrid laughed at the twins, Harry stood there a bit perplexed while Emily just looked excited. "O' course it's true! If yer anythin' like yer parents yeh'll be right good 'uns in no time!"

Pulling out two envelopes, Hagrid handed the yellowish paper to the twins. Rather quickly Emily noticed the same header she had seen on her previous letter as she opened it. There across the top read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Excitement filled Emily as she began to read. The letter offered her a place at the school starting September 1st. She was disappointed the first day was an entire month away, she didn't want to have to wait. Continuing to read she noticed the headmaster was listed as an Albus Dumbledore and the deputy headmistress was Minerva McGonagall.

"An owl? Why would anyone await an owl?" Harry pondered out loud.

Harry's question seemed to spark something inside of Hagrid who went back to rummaging through his various pockets until he produced an owl and set it on the small table. A moment later he seemed to have found some parchment and a quill. The giant set to work on writing a missive though to who Emily could only guess as she couldn't read the paper from where she was. By the look of it though the letter was rather brief.

Hagrid finished by rolling up the letter and handing it to the owl, who in turn took off straight into the storm. Well the twins' had their answer for sending a response by owl. Harry's jaw was open staring at the window where the owl had flown through, so Emily naturally reached over and pushed it closed for him. Her brother rolled his eyes at her before making a face, "Won't the owl get lost out there?"

Hagrid chuckled and patted Harry on the shoulder, "Yeh don' have ter worry about her."

Hagrid made his way back to the couch and settled back in. His focus was on the twins and it was clear he was trying to decide how best to really begin now that the twins had read their letters.

Vernon on the other hand had other ideas about what was going on, "We refuse to allow this a second longer! They will not be going and you will leave this instant!"

Hagrid chuckled, "I'm shiverin', yeh useless muggle."

"Muggle?" Harry asked looking at his ever-reddening Uncle.

"It's what we call people who don' have magic," Hagrid answered pointing his thumb back at the Dursleys, "Like them."

Vernon was grumbling under his breath. Emily could tell he was on the edge of exploding as his words slowly started getting louder. "I did not try to stamp this out of them for you to show up now! It ends with their parents! They are no witch or wizard, this is FINISHED!"

"They knew?" Harry asked looking at his sister before turning to the Dursleys. "How could you hide this from us?"

Sighing Emily shook her head. Emily could feel her brother practically vibrating next her. His anger was close to making an appearance, he did not like being lied to. Neither did she for that matter but she was worried about provoking more anger from her Uncle. Hagrid couldn't remain with them forever, he would have to leave and the twins could still be punished harshly once he was gone.

Surprisingly it was Aunt Petunia that snapped at Harry's words. "Of course we hid it from you! We knew you would be abnormal, but we had hopes we could try and correct you. My sister was an unnatural freak! Though our parents couldn't have been prouder of Lily, always excited about their yearly visits to her world to help her prepare for her precious school, always hanging off her every word as she described her time away at school. But what good did it do them? I was the only one who understood Lily was worth nothing. That her freakish ways could only hurt our family. And I was right!"

Emily slowly reeled as her Aunt raged. There was so much hatred, why had they even taken in the twins if she knew what they would become? But it was as the rant from her Aunt continued that made the young girl feel as if she had been punched in the stomach.

"Those men came for my parents, they killed them. Car crash the police told us but I know better. Lily had warned us all to be careful and apologized after that… it was too late for apologies. Our parents were dead because of what she was.

It didn't end there though, did it? I told her to stay away from my family, to not bring us into her freakish problems. Then I find out she and her no good husband got themselves blown up!"

Emily was starting to doubt the car crash after what was being revealed but to be blown up...

Harry seemed to find his voice before his sister, "But you said the car crash…"

"WHA'!" Hagrid jumped to his feet again as the twins quickly backed away. "A car crash couldn' kill their parents! Do yeh realize how famous these two are in our world!"

"We're famous?" Emily asked taking a small step back forward. Hagrid's face instantly softened looking at the frightened twins. He seemed unsure of what to say to the pair though and each time he started to speak he stopped himself before sitting back down and running a hand over his face.

"Yeh can't go an' not know yer own story… It's not right. I don' know if I'm the right one ter do it but yeh should know."

And tell them he did. His story began with a wizard who dabbled in dark magics, a bad man that after some encouragement the twins even got him to name, Voldemort.

Hagrid told them how the magical world had fallen into dark times. Voldemort had gathered a large group of followers who had begun to try and overtake the entire magical community. He spoke of those who dared to stand up to him and lost their lives for their bravery. The giant spoke of a man who Voldemort feared, his name was Dumbledore and as he resided at Hogwarts in his position as Headmaster the school remained a haven, untouched by the mad man.

The twins learned a bit about their parents. Their father had been the Head Boy and their mother the Head Girl during their final year in attendance at Hogwarts. Both of their parents had been offered spots in the mad man's ranks but they refused and stood up to him. They had even survived several encounters with the man which was very rare according to Hagrid. As the story came to the night their parents had given their lives, the giant had to pause as he became choked up remembering his fallen friends and their sacrifice for their twins who stood before him, hanging on his every word.

He was careful not to stop as he explained that Voldemort had not stopped at killing their parents, he had attempted to end the entire Potter line. Hagrid wished he could tell the twins more about that night or give them a better insight into the why of it but the best he could come up with was that Voldemort had wanted to 'make a clean job' of it.

It really was a miraculous night, at Voldemort's attempt to kill the children something went wrong. The spell rebounded and the mad man lost his powers. The twins appeared confused at the pronouncement and the giant didn't blame them, never in history had such a thing occurred, or at least not to his knowledge.

"Yeh two are the only ones ter ever survive when facing his wand or even the killin' curse for that matter," Hagrid pondered rubbing his beard with his hand before giving a shrug. "Whatever happened, he couldn' kill yeh two and yer famous for it. It's never happened before and people have researched yeh know but it can't be done. Lots of powerful families died, the Prewetts are all but gone 'cept Molly o'course. And not many left of the Bones'."

Mere babies and yet they had survived something no one else was ever known to survive… Emily's mind returned to the memory of the green light. She focused on the memory until the light blinded her, searching for something else to stand out. The more she forced herself to replay the light through her head the more she swore there was a voice there. It sounded feminine. Was it the voice of her mother or was she just imagining it? Was this her mind putting pieces together or grasping at straws as she finally had some idea of where she came from, that the dreams and odd thoughts may not be so far off from the truth.

"I was the one ter take yeh from the house that night," Hagrid said breaking Emily from her thoughts.

Emily couldn't stop herself as her curiosity got the better of her, "Was there another man there that night, who gave us to you?"

The giant nodded his head giving Emily a curious look. Opening his mouth, he was cut off from whatever he was going to say by Vernon.

"Enough! This rubbish must end now! I don't care what they have survived or done, I will not allow you to continue on further. You will leave right now!"

Emily and Harry were both startled, they had been so lost in the story they had forgotten the Dursleys were even still in the shack. But clearly the family was still around and Vernon who had fallen quiet was quickly turning purple as his anger had reached a breaking point, the man could no longer show any restraint.

"I will fix these two! Don't worry, a few good beatings and they'll forget what you've told them. Their abnormalities will learn to stay dormant or they'll learn to keep them contained. Their freakish ways will not be tolerated, I said that the day we took them in. They should be lucky I didn't drop them at the orphanage! When I read the letter all I could say was 'good riddance'. Their parents got what was deserved!"

Petunia began pulling on her husband's arm, she understood the danger her husband was putting their family in with his words. The tall frail woman was shaking her head as the giant once again was standing, his pink umbrella in hand. When the tip of the umbrella touched Vernon's nose, he finally seemed to realize perhaps he had gone too far. Slowly he allowed himself to be pulled back towards his wife.

As Hagrid turned back towards the twins Harry asked a question Emily had been wondering about as well. The man had told them Voldemort had lost his powers not that he was dead.

Shrugging Hagrid looked apologetic at not having a good answer, "He vanished. Some think he died but if yeh had seen him yeh'd know he wasn't human enough ter die. He's out there somewhere. Where? No one seems ter know. Though Dumbledore might know…"

As Hagrid trailed off in thought Emily was back to feeling excited. All the odd pieces suddenly were coming together. She now understood why so many odd things happened to and around the twins. Harry's hair growing back overnight, her ability to transport herself, turning the teacher's hair blue… it also explained how they healed so quickly, the average person would take far longer to heal than the twins had for the various injuries they had suffered over the years. Come to think on it for how malnourished they had been, her and Harry were rarely sick. Their light meals and constant work should have made them weaker instead Emily was certain their magic had been protecting them, making them stronger. Looking to Harry she expected to see her excitement reflected back at her but all she saw was doubt and confusion.

"Har what's wrong?" Emily asked genuinely not understanding why her twin wasn't smiling.

"I think he's made a mistake. I mean think about it, he can't be right."

"No, you think about it Harry!" Emily demanded probably a bit more firmly than she meant to. "Think about all the things that happen around us. How when we are mad or upset things seem to happen. Did your hair not grow back overnight or what about that time Aunt Petunia tried to force you into that horrid sweater, the one with the puff balls all over it?"

"It kept shrinking till it was too small to even be more than a hat on my head," Harry offered slowly seeming to see where his sister was going with this.

"Exactly, and we heal pretty quickly. Think of all the times Dudley gets sick and yet we are just fine."

A smile spread across Harry's face as he thought of the truth in his sister's words. Turning to look at the giant, Harry saw Hagrid nodding his head quickly in agreement with Emily's words.

Chuckling Hagrid patted Harry on the shoulder, "O'course yer a wizard kid. Yer sister is right. There's no need ter worry about nothin', ye'll fit right in at Hogwarts!"

"You're sure?"

"Yer famous," Hagrid answered as if that was enough. "Who couldn't love the two of yeh?"

"Absolutely not! They will not fit in because they will not be going!" Vernon had apparently not been scared enough yet to stay quiet and Hagrid seemed to have had enough. Emily noticed his hand was gripping the umbrella handle rather tightly.

"Oh, they'll be goin' alight, and no muggle like you is gunna stop 'em."

"I am the one who feeds the brats, I have every right to stop them!"

"They need ter be with people who are like them! Yeh really think you can stop this? They're famous, not one person in their world that don't know their names! They'll be going ter Hogwarts and in seven years they won't have ter see the likes of yeh again or maybe they will but I don't think yeh'd like the outcome."

Hagrid chuckled darkly but Vernon wasn't to be deterred this time. "I won't be paying for this charade! You tell the old fool if he wants them to remain with us, they will not be going to learn under his crackpot teachings! Silly tricks," Vernon added as a side thought, "when what they really need is a…"

What Vernon thought the twins needed they would never know because at the mention of 'old fool' the giant seemed to have lost his hold on his temper. The umbrella tip was now touching the nose of the overstuffed purpling man. In an instant, his aim changed direction and with a high pitched shriek Dudley was grabbing his bottom and screaming for his mummy. As the boy danced about his mother tried to get him to still so she could see what had happened. Emily noticed her cousins problem rather quickly, the boy's hands were trying to cover a pig's tail.

Aunt Petunia screamed once she herself realized what had been done to her precious Dudders. Vernon realizing he had lost, rushed to his wife and son, ushering them back towards the one bedroom of the shack and slamming the door shut.

Looking sheepishly at his umbrella Hagrid turned back to the twins and immediately apologized for having lost his temper. "I'm not exactly supposed ter do that, if you wouldn' mind not tellin' anyone."

The twins nodded in agreement both a bit baffled at the reason why the man wouldn't be allowed to use magic if he worked at Hogwarts. Harry opened his mouth to ask why when Emily nudged him in the side causing him to groan instead.

"Yeh okay?" Hagrid asked.

Harry nodded but looked half annoyed with his sister though he had a tinge to his cheeks obviously glad she had stopped him from asking what was probably not the most polite of questions to the man who had told them so much.

"Tomorrow we gotta buy all yer things fer Hogwarts," Hagrid announced. "Why don' we all try an' get some sleep now." He gave the twins his coat to sleep under before lying down on the couch and going to sleep himself.


	5. Diagon Alley

**5**

 **Diagon Alley**

When Emily woke the next morning, she kept her eyes tightly closed. Meeting the giant Hagrid vividly played through her mind. The one thing that kept echoing in the back of her mind was ' _Let it be real, it was real, please be real'_.

A light tapping could be heard and Emily took a deep breath. Her aunt would never tap so lightly on their door to wake them. The only conclusion she could come to was that she needed to open her eyes to confirm whether she had made up the events of last night. The tapping continued as Emily got up the courage to open her eyes. She felt Harry shake her, obviously impatient for her to wake.

"I'm up," she answered while stretching her arms up over her head. When they didn't hit a wall a small smile spread across her face and she finally allowed herself to open her eyes and look around the shack for the cause of the tapping.

"The window," Harry whispered pointing at the small glass square where an owl appeared to be attempting to get someone's attention.

"Maybe we should open it," Emily suggested.

Harry didn't need to be told twice, he nodded and jumped to his feet, running over to the window to let the creature in. The owl seemed pleased by the boy's efforts and gave a low hoot of approval as it swooped in and dropped what looked to be a newspaper by Hagrid before landing on his coat and attacking it.

The twins looked at each other but neither could do anything but shrug their shoulders. They had no clue what the bird wanted. Harry moved towards the giant and attempted to wake him up but the man didn't seem to want to budge. Finally, the large man rolled over and saw the predicament the children were in giving a low chuckle, "He just wants ter get paid."

The twins wonderedexactly how were they supposed to know what to pay the owl with. Hagrid grunted at them to look in the pockets of his coat but Emily had never seen a coat with so many pockets before. They pulled out candies, strings, parchment, ink, they even found a few mice before they came upon a pocket filled with coins they had never seen before.

Hagrid took pity on them and explained that they were supposed to give the owl five Knuts which were these little bronze coins with odd makings on it. When the money was put in the leather bag, presented to them by the owl sticking out its leg, the owl quickly took flight back out through the window.

It wasn't long before the giant finally sat up and declared it was time to leave.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked looking back at the room where he knew the rest of his family to be hiding.

"Ter London, ter get yer school supplies. We can't have yeh showin' up at Hogwarts empty handed."

Harry's look of happiness at the prospect of leaving seemed to deflate as he looked back down at the various coins in his hand. Emily knew where her twin's mind had gone as she was contemplating the exact same dilemma. "Hagrid, we don't have any money. You heard our Uncle last night, he was very adamant about not paying for us to go to Hogwarts."

"I wouldn' worry if I was yeh," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "Yer parents left yeh both money."

"They did?" Harry asked. "But Uncle Vernon always complains about how much we cost him."

"Why don' we have some o' that cake and forget the muggles fer a bit. When we get ter London our firs' stop is the wizarding bank, Gringotts."

"Gringotts is the name of the bank?"

"And its run by goblins..." Hagrid added with a smirk.

Harry looked to Emily who was just as shocked. Emily had a feeling there were going to be a lot of surprises for the two of them as they learned about the magical world.

"Goblins are real?"

"Yeah, course they are. The goblins can be vicious creatures an' don' like no one stealin' from them. Makes it a good place ter keep things. Come to think of it Hogwarts is the only place safer. Dumbledore has me goin' there on Hogwarts business anyway so it will be a good place ter start," Hagrid told them.

It didn't take the twins long to ready themselves and before they knew it they were standing outside of the shack staring at the sea. The storm was gone now but that didn't mean there were no consequences, the boat Emily and Harry had arrived in was filled to the brim with water. The pair looked around for another means of transport but neither one could figure out how the giant had made it onto the rock.

"Hagrid, how did you get here?" Harry asked, shivering slightly due to the chilly wind that came off the sea.

"Flew," was the large man's reply.

Emily kept trying to picture the giant flying like some kind of superhero in the shows Dudley watched but it didn't quite fit.

"Are the pair 'o yeh goin' ter stand here all day?"

Looking towards Hagrid, the twins realized the boat was now cleared of the water and the man was gesturing for them to climb in.

"Do yeh mind if I help us out a little?" Hagrid asked holding up his pink umbrella. "It's only, we have ter get to London and if we row this thing it will take forever."

Emily and Harry saw no problem with the man using a bit of magic and told him as much. As they began their morning journey the twins began to ask Hagrid about Gringotts. Their curiosity peaked at having a name to put to a place they would be visiting today.

"But what makes it so safe?" Harry asked trying not to fall into the water as he was helped out of the boat.

"It's deep under London, it is. All kinds of traps and creatures down there ter guard the vaults. They say there's dragons down there even."

"Dragons?" Emily's mind filled with images of large fire breathing creatures. "They exist?"

"'O course they do. I'd like ter have one me'self."

"You want to own one?" Harry was astonished at the idea and stared up at the man as if he had slightly lost his mind.

"Yeh, wouldn't be too big a problem. I care for lots of creatures."

The twins joined Hagrid on the tube for the next part of their journey into London. The large man settled in to read his paper, which he had curiously tapped with his umbrella before opening it. Emily leaned back in her seat and took a few minutes to try and process everything that was happening. The prospect of learning new things excited her but there was a tiny part of her that was nervous. She hadn't exactly fit into the world she lived in currently, how was she supposed to manage in a completely new world?

"…Ministry of Magic."

Emily turned her attention to her two companions at those words. "There's a Ministry of Magic?"

"'O course there is, we even have a Minister. Not that the man is anything more than a bungler but we gotta have some kind of leader. Dumbledore has been asked himself ter do the job, he never takes it though. It's a lot ter do, you know? An' Dumbledore seems ter rather like being at the school, not that I can blame him… Don't matter really all that much where Dumbledore is I guess, Minister is constantly knocking at his door for help anyway."

"But what does the Minister do?" Harry asked. "Why do we need one?"

"The Ministry is there ter protect us. Can't have muggles tryin' ter run us, an' livin' tergether never really worked out in the past…"

"You mean the witch trials?" Emily offered thinking back to a few times she had read on the subject in history books.

"Not that they got it right that often but we may not have been very careful in the past. Magic is a secret, we gotta keep ourselves hidden from the muggles and it's the Ministry's job ter make sure that happens."

Harry seemed confused at the statement but Emily nodded in agreement. If everyone knew magic existed there would be chaos among the muggles. Some would be terrified, like her aunt and uncle clearly were and others, like Hagrid was currently pointing out to Harry who had voiced his discontent with the idea of keeping it all a secret, would demand the magicals solve their every problem.

As the small group moved through the streets of London it was clear that Hagrid did not fit in. Everyone they passed seemed to stop and stare at the giant. One could hardly blame them it wasn't every day you saw someone quite so large walking down the street, the twins had a feeling the way he was dressed didn't help matters much either, nor his loud comments.

Hagrid seemed fascinated by the various things they passed on the street. Like parking meters and cars, muggles seemed to peak his curiosity and he wasn't exactly soft spoken when voicing his opinions out loud.

"Hagrid," Harry asked trying to break the man's attention away from inspecting a random car parked on the road. "What sort of things do we need to get today?"

"Why don' yeh two open yer letters now?" Hagrid offered starting to walk back down the street. 

Emily pulled out her letter and began to read the second piece of parchment. For their uniform they would need black robes, dragon hide gloves, a pointed hat and a black cloak with silver fastenings.

Emily noticed they needed many kinds of textbooks. There were books on spells, history, magical theory, transfiguration, herbs and fungi, potions, beasts and a book that was on protecting yourself. They needed a wand, cauldron, phials for potions, a telescope and scales. She was excited because the letter said they could bring a pet and she had never had one before, perhaps she could get one today.

The journey into London was rather exciting for the twins as the pair had never been allowed there before. Petunia always left them behind with Mrs. Figg when she needed to go into to town. The pair were slightly worried by Hagrid's demeanor towards muggle things since he had stressed their need to keep magic a secret, yet he appeared to know his way around well enough so the two decided not to worry too much.

Emily eagerly read the signs of every shop they passed wondering if the next one would be what they were looking for. Nothing seemed to be the type of shop that would sell the items required on their list and with the need to keep everything secret Emily started to wonder if she was merely being silly to think they would just walk into a random shop out in the open where everyone could see it.

"Here we are, the Leaky Cauldron," he told them.

Emily stopped and took in the dingy looking state of the building they had stopped in front of. The place was dark and there were no windows like the shops around it. Emily felt a slight tingle against her skin and it increased as she held her hand out toward the building. She began looking around the street and she got an odd feeling that not only was she the only one getting the peculiar sensation, she was certain none of the people walking past even realized this building was here.

The inside of the pub was very dark and people were scattered around the place with their drinks. As they entered patrons turned to wave hello to Hagrid, it seemed he was a regular here as the bartender instantly moved to give Hagrid his usual. The giant stopped the man and called attention to the twins as he informed the barman he was on business for Hogwarts while patting their shoulders. It was a struggle for the twins to stay standing under the weight of the man's hands.

"It can't be!" said the bartender staring at Emily and Harry's foreheads. The entire pub had fallen silent and the occupants were staring at the twins now. "Harry and Emily Potter… it's an honor."

As the bartender rushed towards them Emily swore she saw tears in his eyes. It wasn't long before everyone was crowding around them. They all wanted to shake their hands. The twins were at a loss of what to say so they just smiled as politely as they could at everyone.

It seemed like it would never end, people kept coming back to shake the twins' hands over and over again. One of the men who introduced himself as Dedalus Diggle looked extremely familiar, Emily was sure she had met the man before and then it hit her he had bowed to her and Harry one time in a shop, scaring Aunt Petunia so much she rushed them all out. Emily pointed it out to the man and she had obviously made his day because he started excitedly telling everyone how the twins remembered him.

A man who looked to be in his early twenties approached them, Emily noticed his hands trembled slightly.The man turned out to be Professor Quirrell. Hagrid told them he was a teacher at Hogwarts. The man spoke with a stutter and even though he said he was pleased to meet them Emily got a feeling he wasn't really paying them that much attention. His eyes kept darting around the room like he was waiting for someone to jump out and grab him.

When they asked him what he taught they found he was their Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. He told them he was in the Alley looking for a book on vampires. It wasn't long before the people in the pub pushed the professor away and went back to shaking their hands. It took ten more minutes before Hagrid was able to steer the twins out of the pub.

Hagrid led the twins into an alleyway behind the pub that had a brick wall and a few trash cans pushed together in a corner. The giant seemed quite excited at the reception the twins had received in the pub and was going on and on about how famous they were. Emily and Harry were both rather curious about their new Professor who had the stutter.

"Is he always like that?" Emily questioned.

"Who?"

"Professor Quirrell."

"Lately he has been, yeah. He had a run in with a hag or vampire or something that spoked him. Been stutterin' ever since."

It seemed the professor was still shaken from his travels, hadn't the man said he was the defense teacher? Shouldn't a defense teacher be brave?

While Emily and Harry's heads were taking in all the new information, Hagrid was busy pulling out his umbrella and counting bricks on the wall. He tapped the wall with his umbrella in a pattern on the bricks and told the twins to stand back. All of a sudden the bricks began to move and form into an archway exposing a cobblestone path that would lead them into the magical alley.

As the twins stepped through the archway Emily was sure they both had looks of awe on their faces. One of the first shops Emily saw was selling cauldrons. Hagrid seemed to notice where she was looking.

"We'll go in there soon enough," he said pointing further down the path. "First we need ter see some goblins an' get the pair of yeh set up."

There were so many things to see as they walked toward the bank. Emily couldn't wait to visit the Apothecary and Harry pointed out a shop called Eeylops that sold owls. They saw brooms made for flying in the window of Quality Quidditch Supply and books stacked at odd angles in Flourish and Blotts. Hagrid had to give Emily a little push to keep her moving toward the bank and away from the book store.

"Here we are," Hagrid said stopping in front of a large white marble building. It was an amazing sight to take in.

What Emily assumed must be one of the goblins, bowed them through a bronze door. The second door was silver and had two goblins that bowed as they went through as well. There had to be at least a hundred more goblins behind a high counter the stretched the length of the large room the doors had led them into. There were tons of doors that the goblins were going in and out of with clients. Hagrid led the twins up to a counter where the goblin requested their key. Of course, Hagrid forgot what pocket he put it in and began pulling things out of various spots in his jacket and putting them on the teller's counter.

When Hagrid finally found it he passed the key over to the goblin who examined it before determining that it was the correct key.

"I have somethin' else ter pick up," Hagrid stated leaning in towards the goblin. "Vault 713 fer Dumbledore. It's all in this letter here." Hagrid then told the goblin passing a letter to him.

The gobline carefully read the contents of the letter before giving a nod to the giant and making a motion to a line of goblins behind him, "Griphook."

"Yes sir," came the reply as a goblin quickly stepped forward.

"Take this group down and ensure the young Mister and Miss Potters have their own keys for future visits to their vault."

The goblin bowed in answer before turning to the group, "Follow me."

As Hagrid and the twins followed Griphook Harry couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked what was in the vault Hagrid had been sent to pick something up from.He told them it was secret and that he couldn't tell them, he simply kept repeating that it was Hogwarts business.

They were led into a stone hallway that was lit by torches attached to the walls. Griphook whistled and a cart came to a stop in front of them. They all climbed in and took off racing along the tracks. Emily found it odd that Griphook wasn't steering but figured it must be some kind of magic at work.

Emily nor Harry wanted to blink and miss something as they rode to their vault. The deeper they went the more intrigued they became. There were flames at one point but neither could tell if it was a dragon or not. The group even passed a lake and Harry had asked Hagrid a question, Hagrid's reply was short and they were asked not to talk to him as he felt sick. Hagrid did appear rather ill, so the pair refrained from bothering him.

When they reached their vault, Griphook opened the door for them and the twins stopped at the sight of the mounds of gold, silver and bronze coins.

"This is your trust vault," Griphook informed them.

"So there is another vault with more?" Harry seemed in awe walking in further without waiting for an answer. Hagrid helped the twins pile some of it into two bags, one for each of them.

"Hagrid," Emily called when the giant had turned to leave. "Can we take a bit more I think Harry and I need a few extra things like some new clothes and I know I will want some extra books?"

Hagrid nodded and helped them gather up a bit more money into their bags.

"If you are in need of funds at any point, all you need do is contact the bank," Griphook instructed the twins leading them back towards the cart. "As one of our oldest families, we are always available to you."

"Thank you," Emily said passing the goblin and climbing back into the cart.

Harry was quick to follow his sister, but Hagrid paused as he contemplated their next ride. "Does this thing go any slower?"

"Only one speed," Griphook smiled in response showing all his sharp teeth.

Hagrid turned a bit greener at that pronouncement but climbed back into the cart anyway. The deeper they went the more Harry leaned over the side of the cart trying to look down to see if there was a bottom to the massive cave, but Emily roughly pulled him back by his arm and whacked the back of his head. "Honestly, must you do that?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "I was curious, it doesn't have an end."

Emily rolled her eyes at her twin as she settled herself back in her seat, "Of course it has an end."

"Not that I can see."

When they stopped in front of vault seven hundred and thirteen Emily noticed there was no place for a key like there had been on their trust vault. Griphook didn't seem worried though as he walked up to the door and ran his finger along it. The door seemed to melt away and Griphook informed the pair who looked on in awe that it was goblin magic, if you tried to enter and were not a goblin you would become trapped inside.

"How often do you check them?" Harry asked looking worriedly at the vaults around them.

"If the thief is lucky, every ten years. Sometimes we forget…" Emily got the distinct impression though the goblins never forgot and that perhaps the not checking was more of a punishment in their mind.

Focusing on the vault Emily was shocked when the vault was opened and all that was in there was a tiny package. Hagrid quickly snatched up the small parcel and tucked it into his coat. He reminded them not to talk to him on the return ride back as he clambered once again into the cart. They could both see how the carts did not agree with the giant who looked extremely pale. It was unfortunate because the twins were loving their speedy adventure and would happily spend more time in the cart if they could. 

When they were back in the Alley Emily and Harry couldn't decide where to start so Hagrid sent them off to Madam Malkin's to get their uniform and clothes while he went back to the Leaky Cauldron to sit down and recover.

Madam Malkin was a small witch who smiled at the twins as they walked through the door of her shop. "Hogwarts?" she said, when Emily started to speak.

"We need a few other clothes items as well," Emily answered, her and Harry were going to be tossing out all their hand-me downs, _tonight_. "Do you have any muggle clothing?"

Madam Malkin nodded and pointed to an area of the store, "All my muggle selection is over there, you can go through it after we get you fitted dears."

Madam Malkin led them to the back of the shop where a pale boy with blond hair was being fitted by a store assistant. The woman instructed Emily and Harry to stand on stools next to him and began to work on Emily first.

"Hello," said the boy, "Are you going to Hogwarts as well?"

"Yes," Emily offered looking over at her brother. "I'm Emily and this is my brother Harry."

"Are you Emily and Harry Potter by chance?" the boy questioned.

Emily nodded.

"I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy."

"Nice to meet you, Draco. Are you here alone?" Emily questioned, she didn't see any adults present excluding the ones that worked in the shop.

"My father is buying my books and mother is waiting to meet us to go and get my wand," Draco answered. "I'm hoping to get them to look at racing brooms with me. I think first years should be allowed brooms. It would be nice to have one at school with me."

Emily shrugged brooms weren't allowed this year, that much she remembered from her letter but otherwise she didn't have much to say on the topic since the idea of riding brooms was new to her.

Harry on the other hand was strongly reminded of Dudley bullying his dad into buying things for him and was already not fond of the boy.

Draco looked to Harry clearly hoping he could sympathize with him, "Do you have a broom?"

"No," he answered quickly.

"Do you play Quidditch?"

"No," Harry answered again.

"We were raised by muggles," Emily injected earning an understanding nod from Draco.

"Well, do you know what House you want to be in?"

"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.

"I am going to be in Slytherin," Draco told them proudly. "My family has been in that House as far back as anyone can remember."

The lady working on Draco was finished and told him he was free to leave just as Madam Malkin finished Emily and told her she was free to continue her shopping while she worked on Harry. The two jumped down from their stools and began to go back to the front of the shop.

"Are you ok with me picking out your clothes Har?" Emily asked her brother.

"Yeah go ahead, I'd be lost anyway." Emily nodded and kept walking with Draco.

"Would you like to help me?" Emily asked Draco. "Harry and I need some new clothes and I could use your help with his things, plus I'm not sure exactly what is popular to wear around here."

"Of course," Draco replied and quickly set to work helping Emily shop. Draco, Emily noted, had excellent taste and even knew a few things about Muggle fashion. They picked out jeans, t-shirts, skirts, dresses, shoes... grabbing a bit of everything since the twins needed an entire new wardrobe.

"Thank you, Draco!"

"It was fun," he said helping her put the last of the clothes on the counter. "Well my parents are probably wondering what took me so long. I'll see you at Hogwarts though. Come find me on the train and we can sit together."

"I will, Bye!" Emily said, waving to him as he left the store.

As Emily was paying for the clothes Harry came and joined her at the counter. He seemed to be in a bad mood but cheered up a bit when he saw all the clothes. Harry was rather quiet when they left the shop to join Hagrid who had bought ice cream for the pair. When asked what was wrong Harry told Emily he was fine as they made their way to buy parchment and quills. Emily quite enjoyed the store and bought ink in every color they had available as well as a few fun colored quills.

After leaving Scrivengers the twins decided to buy new trunks so they could put their newly purchased clothes in them. Harry finally spoke up about what was bothering him as they left the trunk store. He proceeded to tell Hagrid and Emily about a boy who had brown hair that came in to be fitted while Emily was picking out their new clothes. The boy had told Harry that people from Muggle families should not be allowed to attend Hogwarts.

"But we were raised by muggles," Harry finished looking dejected. "So we shouldn't be going there."

"Nonsense, clearly the lad didn't know who yeh are! If he had known I bet he would of held his tongue!"

Harry wasn't quite sure how to respond to that so instead started asking Hagrid about Quidditch and Emily started asking what Slytherin was. Quidditch it turned out was a sport played on brooms and Slytherin was a school House. Hagrid began to tell them that there were four Houses and started off with Hufflepuff House, he said a lot of people thought those who were sorted into the house were a bunch of duffers.

Harry cut off Hagrid before he could finish telling them about the house declaring he would be a Hufflepuff.

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," Hagrid quipped back.

Even though Hagrid went on to tell them how everyone in Slytherin became dark wizards and witches during the reign of Voldemort's terror, Emily was reserving her judgment. Draco seemed nice and he was sure he was going to be in Slytherin. You can't rule out an entire group of people calling them bad just because one mad man happened to be in that house. She turned to look at Harry who seemed to be already forming an opinion based on what Hagrid was saying and she was a bit disappointed in that.

They finally made it into the store Emily had been wanting to visit the most, Flourish and Blotts. Everywhere she looked there were books, she just had to decide where to start her search... Emily found an assistant and asked them for recommendations on books. She ended up with books on wizarding etiquette and society, additional books on potions, basic books on runes and arithmancy - which he had pointed her to when she said she had loved math in muggle school - she also purchased a few books on curses and their counters.

The twins may have gone a bit wild with the various things they were purchasing but Hagrid stopped the twins from purchasing gold cauldrons along with the pewter ones on their lists.He made it clear there was currently no need for a gold cauldron for a few years and motioned to the bags they were already carrying, "I think the two of yeh have already done enough damage!"

They visited the Apothecary, which had Emily even more excited to get to Hogwarts. There were so many interesting ingredients. She had a feeling she knew what her favorite class was going to be. Emily asked for the basic potion ingredients for both her and Harry but asked the man to add a bit more than what was specified, along with some commonly used ingredients that were not required for class. The man walked her and Harry around the store more than happy to help them learn about some of the ingredients they didn't recognize. As they were leaving the man handed Emily an owl order form in case she wanted more ingredients while at school.

When they left the Apothecary they noticed all they had left to get were their wands. Hagrid told them he wanted to buy them a birthday present first and even though they told him it was not necessary he took them to buy their first pet. When they walked out of Eeylops Owl Emporium Harry was carrying a cage that held his new snowy owl who had brown eyes and Emily was carrying a rare pure black owl that had a regal air to him as he sat on the perch in his cage. They found themselves thanking Hagrid over and over again for their very first birthday presents that they could ever remember receiving.

Hagrid, who was turning a bit red at the constant thank yous from the twins, led them to Ollivanders to get their wands. Emily and Harry were filled with excitement.

Emily visibly shivered when she felt the wave of magic come over her upon entering the tiny shop.

"Hello," said the man who emerged from the back of the shop. "I thought I might see the two of you soon, Harry and Emily Potter. You have your mother's eyes," he said towards Harry, "and you have your father's…"

Ollivander immediately started to measure the twins and tell them about the wands he crafted before they could even say a polite hello in return. The man used phoenix feathers, dragon heartstrings and unicorn hair when making the wands. They found out that no wand was exactly the same and that another person's wand wouldn't work as well for you as it did for them.

The first wand Harry tried was made of Beechwood and had a dragon heartstring core. It was flexible and was snatched out of his hands quickly by Ollivander who had obviously decided this was not the wand for him.

"Here," he said, handing one to Emily. "Willow and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy."

Emily and Harry tried wand after wand. The pile of tried wands was mounting ever higher with each try, in fact there were two very large piles of rejected wands, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves the more enthusiastic he got.

He looked thoughtful before going out of their sight and coming back with two boxes. He pulled out the first wand and told them it was Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches. Harry instinctively seemed to reach out and took the wand raising it above his head before bringing it down in front of him creating red and gold sparks from the end of the wand.

Mr. Ollivander excitedly then turned to Emily handing her a wand, "Ebony Gaboon and phoenix feather, twelve inches, unbending. What makes this wand special is the purpleheart wood used at the base where you grip your wand. Very rarely is more than one wood used in the creation of a wand." Emily immediately felt the warmth flood her body. The magic swirled around her as she raised the wand and shot white and green sparks into the air.

Mr. Ollivander took the wands and put them back in their boxes and wrapped them in brown paper, muttering, "Curious… curious…" When Harry asked him what was curious the answer they received made them wonder if it would have been better to not have asked at all.

Mr. Ollivander explained to them that the phoenix feathers in their wands came from the same phoenix. That phoenix had given only one other feather besides the two they had and it lay in the wand of the man who had killed their parents, Voldemort.

Mr. Ollivander seemed to think this meant that they could expect great things from the twins because as he observed, Voldemort had done great things with magic. They were horrible acts but the magic he performed was no less extraordinary, or so he said.

The twins paid fourteen Galleons for their wands and left the shop with slight feelings of unease. As they walked back through Diagon Alley and made it into Muggle London Emily and Harry were both quiet, each contemplating all that had gone on that day. Emily couldn't believe how much they had learned and it was nothing in comparison as to what was to come. She just wanted to hide in their room and read until she passed out from exhaustion.

When they reached the point where they would go separate ways from Hagrid he took them to have dinner since they had time before their train left. Emily forced herself to eat even though she was a bit too excited to be hungry. She looked at Harry who kept looking around him as if he was seeing everything for the first time.

Harry voiced his nervousness at being famous but Hagrid was quick to remind him that Hogwarts was going to be fun. They would make friends who were also witches and wizards and though they had been singled out that was no reason not to look forward to and enjoy the experience.

"I can't wait!" Emily exclaimed. She had never felt so happy in her life. She felt like she finally found a place where she would be able to belong. Never again would Emily have to pretend to not understand something when the teacher asked a question or purposefully do poorly on tests. She was going to be able to be herself and in her mind September first couldn't be here fast enough. Hagrid chuckled at her exuberance and helped the twins get all their things onto the train, then handed them each an envelope with their tickets to get to Hogwarts.

He reminded them they left from King's Cross on September first and if they had any problems with their relatives they could write to him using their owls. When the train pulled out of the station the twins looked out the window to get one last look at Hagrid but he had already gone.


	6. Platform Nine and Three Quarters

**6**

 **Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

The twins only had to be at the Dursleys for one more month when they returned from Diagon Alley. In the four weeks, Dudley could not be in the same room as the twins and ran out of any room they were in screaming and clutching his bottom as he went, while their aunt and uncle on the other hand refused to acknowledge them at all. Emily noticed the few times her uncle did acknowledge her presence, was by grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into another room and using grunts to let her know what he wanted.

The twins happy not to be at the end of their aunt and uncle's wrath were still finding the situation a bit depressing. Before at least they were worth the time to criticize now it seemed they no longer existed in their relatives' eyes.

Emily and Harry kept to their room as much as possible. Harry had decided to name his owl Hedwig, which was something he found while reading his history of magic text. Emily had named her owl Apollo after the Greek god who like her, had a twin and was known as the god of light and prophecy.

The twins enjoyed reading their new school books, both staying up late into the night reading together on their bed. Emily who had finished her school books, had moved onto the extra books she had purchased in Flourish and Blotts. She was determined to know as much as possible about this new world they were a part of.

Emily and Harry had a tendency to leave the window in their bedroom open so Apollo and Hedwig could come and go freely since it seemed cruel to keep them locked up in their cages. Emily could just picture the look on Aunt Petunia's face if she were to see the mice that Apollo and Hedwig kept bringing back with them as prizes.

The twins had pinned a calendar to the wall and together they would check off the days till they left for Hogwarts.Their excitement at being rid of the Dursleys was mounting with each 'X'.

The night before they were to go to Hogwarts the twins decided it was finally. time to ask their aunt and uncle if they could have a ride to King's Cross.

Emily and Harry went downstairs knowing Petunia and Vernon would be watching one of their nightly TV shows. As soon as Dudley noticed the pair he let out a high pitched squeak, grabbed his bottom and waddled from the room as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Uncle Vernon?" Emily tested.

He grunted at her in response, clearly not fazed by his own son's reaction.

"We are supposed to go to Hogwarts tomorrow."

Another grunt.

"Could you take us to King's Cross to catch our train?" Again he grunted and Emily took it to mean he was saying yes.

Emily thanked him and took Harry's hand to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon spoke.

"What happened to all the flying carpets that you have to take a train?" Emily had read that flying carpets were illegal in England but decided that it was better to remain quiet then be smart and inform him of that fact. "Where is this school even located?"

"Scotland," Emily answered promptly tightly holding her brother's hand. "Our train leaves from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven."

Their uncle just gaped at them and then asked her to repeat the platform number.

"It says platform nine and three-quarters on our ticket."

"That's nonsense," Uncle Vernon laughed. "There's no such thing."

"It's on both of our tickets," Harry spoke up defending his sister. "It can't be wrong."

"There mad! All of them! Don't you agree Petunia?" the woman in question merely nodded her head but refused to look away from the TV. The answer was good enough for her husband who turned his attention back to the twins. "Oh, we'll take you tomorrow and you'll find out! We have to go into London anyway."

Harry decided to ask why the Dursleys had to go into London causing Emily to roll her eyes, there was no point in trying with the Dursleys. To her surprise though her uncle answered that they were taking Dudley to have the pig tail removed. Emily was shocked they had left it on him for a month as it was, their perfect son had been having to hide his imperfection and discomfort for so long, when normally all Dudley need do was make a slight face of discontent and his parents would be jumping to solve the problem.

Vernon didn't wait for the twins to say another word and turned his attention back to the TV, the twins took the sign for what it was and made their way upstairs. Slipping back into their room they tucked themselves into bed and were happy with their small victory of getting a ride to the train station in the morning.

The pair woke early the next morning and they both knew there was no way they were going to be able to fall back asleep. So instead of lying in bed they proceeded to get up and get dressed, Harry in jeans and a t-shirt while Emily wore her new emerald green dress. They weren't sure if it was the best idea to be walking through the train station with muggles, dressed in a cloak after Hagrid has stressed the need for secrecy. The pair decided they could change once on the train.

Emily took a moment to make sure her trunk was well organized as Harry tossed the last of his things in his own trunk. It had taken her quite some time to get it just right so that everything would fit. She even put her favorite books in her new book tote so that she didn't have to leave anything at Dursleys'. She wouldn't put it past her relative to come and clean the room after they were gone and toss anything left behind.

The twins made sure Apollo and Hedwig were in their cages and were comfortable before settling in to wait for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, all the twins' things were loaded into the car and their aunt had convinced, more like bribed, Dudley to sit by them for the ride to drop them off at the station.

When they arrived at King's Cross their Uncle Vernon loaded all their things onto carts for them and even pushed Emily's into the station.The man seemed far too helpful and came to a stop when they were standing between platforms nine and ten grinning widely at the twins. "Well there is nine and there is ten, but I don't see a nine and three-quarters."

Emily couldn't deny he was right as she looked between the two platforms. Uncle Vernon smiled as he gave a big wave and left the twins on the platform alone. Emily and Harry watched the Dursleys brake into laughter as Vernon join the rest of his family in the car and sped off.

The twins were not sure what to do. They were attracting a lot of attention because of Apollo and Hedwig, people weren't used to seeing someone carrying an owl through the train station.

Emily told Harry to wait while she went to talk to a guard she spotted just a few feet away. She knew she shouldn't mention platform nine and three-quarters or Hogwarts to the man. It was unlikely if he was a muggle that he had heard of the school.

"Excuse me can you tell me where the trains to Scotland are loading?"

The officer turned at the sound of her voice and smiled down at her, "Of course, platforms 2, 5 and 8."

"Do you know which one leaves at 11?"

"I don't believe we have one leaving at 11 today, do you need some help?" The officer looked concerned for her as he searched the nearby area likely wondering where the adult accompanying her was.

"I'm fine thank you, it's just my brother and I go to school in Scotland. I must have read our tickets wrong."

The smile returned to the man's face as he nodded in understanding, "One of platform 8 leaves at 1 perhaps that was the time you were looking for."

Emily looked down at her ticket, careful not to let the guard see the odd markings on it. She laughed and nodded her head, "You're right it was 1. Thank you sir!"

"Anytime, there's a good café next door if you two want to wait there for your train."

Thanking the man one more time she waved as she rejoined her brother. Glancing back she watched the guard walk away and turned her attention to the big clock over the arrivals board, there were ten minutes until the train left to Hogwarts.

"Nothing?" Harry asked looking at the clock worriedly with his sister.

"No, not one train is going to Scotland at 11."

"What are we going to do?"

Just then a group passed behind the twins and Emily swore she heard someone say the word 'muggle'.

Emily looked to see if Harry had heard it as well, he nodded and they both turned around to get a better look. The person who spoke turned out to be a stout woman surrounded by four boys who all had red hair.

"Look they also have an owl," Harry whispered to his sister trying to discretely point at the cage on top of one of the boy's luggage.

The twins hung back enough that they could hear what they were saying but not near enough to be noticed by the family. They heard the mother ask what the platform number was and the twins instantly held their breath.

A little girl who was holding her mother's hand replied and Emily's heart leapt when she heard her say _nine and three-quarters_. The mother smiled and nodded letting the girl know she had answered correctly before turning to ask, who looked to be the oldest son 'Percy', to go first. He began to walk toward the two platforms but as luck would have it the platform was swarmed with a large group of people and the twins lost sight of the boy. When the crowd had passed he was already gone. The mother than pointed to one of her sons she called Fred and told him it was his turn. He looked to his twin and told his mother that he was George when she apologized he told her he was joking and went running off before his mother could say anything else. Emily watched but in the blink of an eye he was gone and she wasn't sure how he had done it.

The other twin quickly followed the first and ran towards the barrier and just as suddenly he was gone. Emily decided the best thing she could do was ask the woman how to get on the platform. The woman was very nice to them and pointed out that it was her youngest, Ron's first time going to Hogwarts as well. The twins explained that they didn't know how to get on the platform. She explained that they needed to walk into the barrier between the two platforms to reach the train.

Emily saw Harry glance at the solid wall with a bit of skepticism. She couldn't blame him it did look very solid,but it would explain why the red-haired boys all disappeared from sight so quickly. Emily thanked her, and the twins pushed their trollies around so they were pointed towards the barrier.

"I'll go first, you follow me," Emily instructed Harry as she began walking quickly towards the wall. When she thought she was going to crash she closed her eyes tight and started to run. She kept waiting for the impact but it never came. Upon opening her eyes she realized she was staring at a red steam engine that had not been in sight when she started to walk through the barrier.

Above her was a sign declaring the train _the_ _Hogwarts Express_. She looked behind herself and saw a wrought-iron archway just as her brother appeared to be entering through it. She smiled at him, they had done it.

The twins went further down the platform deciding to look for an empty compartment. They passed a boy who was telling his grandma he had lost his toad and another boy who had dreadlocks surrounded by a group of people trying to see something he had in a box, that looked to be a spider by the leg that was sticking out from under the lid.

The twins eventually found an empty compartment and put Apollo and Hedwig in first before attempting to heave their trunks toward the train door. They must have looked a sight because one of the red-haired twins asked them if they needed help. He called to his brother Fred to help him and Emily made a mental note that this one must be George. So, he had been lying when he told his mom he was Fred and ran through the barrier.

The twins helped Emily and Harry load their trunks into the corner of the compartment. The younger twins thanked the older redheads but when Harry ran a hand through his hair Fred was quick to notice his scar and asked him if he was Harry Potter.

"That makes you Emily Potter," George deduced.

"Yup," she answered popping the 'p' as she spoke. Fred and George were laughing when their mother's voice was heard calling them. They turned to wave at Emily and Harry before running to say goodbye to their mother.

The twins sat down across from each other, next to the window where they could hear the red-haired family talking.Looking out the window, Emily could see the youngest boy trying to dodge his mother's attempts to clean the dirt off of his nose with her handkerchief. He was blushing as his mother wet the tip with her tongue and finally was able to get him still enough to rub the spot of dirt clean.

When his mother was finished she inquired to where her oldest son was. As if knowing his mom was looking for him the boy in question came strolling towards her, already changed into his robes that had a badge with a silver P in the middle pinned to them.

"Mother, I need to say goodbye quickly. The other prefects are waiting for me to join them at the front."

"Yes, mother do be quick!" George mocked his brother pretending to look at his wrist even though he wasn't wearing a watch and tapping it.

"Yes quite right, the Prefects cannot function without Perfect Percy! We must make sure he is ready to join them imminently!" Fred attempted to straighten his brother's badge while George came up and pushed his twin aside.

"No, no it's all wrong I don't think he shined it enough." George used the end of his sleeve to wipe the badge after huffing on it with his breath.

Percy the Prefect had clearly had enough as his face turned bright red and he snapped at the pair to stop their antics at once. "Mother make them stop!" he ordered when the twins continued on.

"Stop annoying your brother," the woman sighed lightly hitting the twins on their shoulders and motioning for them to step back. "Do have a good term dear, and remember to write. I'm so very proud of you."

Nodding Percy turned and moved towards the front of the train after letting his mother kiss him on the cheek in goodbye.

Fred and George couldn't contain their laughter as their mother turned to them and began to scold them. The pair didn't seem to really be listening to her but they nodded their heads and attempted to stop their laughter.

"You two better be listening to me, I don't want to receive one owl telling me how you've blown up the toilets again!"

"Never tried that one, have we Gred?"

"No, I don't believe we've blown up a toilet before, Forge."

"Oh no you don't!" Their mother was turning red as she realized the pair might seriously attempt the idea.

"Oh, don't worry so much Mum."

"Yeah, it will be fun!"

"Thank you…" Fred said kissing his mom on the cheek before she could explode.

George copied his brother's actions, "Yes, thank you we will be sure to send you a toilet seat as a token of our appreciation!"

Realizing she had lost the woman sighed and changed the subject, "Just look after Ron alright?"

"No need to fear Mum!"

"We will watch over little Ronnikins!"

Ron looked a bit annoyed at being talked about as a young child and Emily noticed there was a pink spot on his nose from where his mother had rubbed it clean earlier.

The twins seemed to take pity on their little brother and told their mother how they had just met Emily and Harry Potter on the train. The little girl seemed to be excited and started begging her mom to let her go onto the train to see Harry.

Emily snickered, "Someone has an admirer…" Which only earned a groan from Harry.

"Absolutely not Ginny, there's no time and it would be rude. I'm sure today is hard enough for them."

"Are you sure it was them?" Ron asked looking at the train then back to his brothers.

"Yeah, we saw one of their scars and they even confirmed it!"

"That's nice dears, but please no asking them questions about it. And especially no questions about You-Know-Who. Are we clear?" the mother instructed her sons. "They don't need to be reminded of everything they lost on their first day at Hogwarts. This should be a happy day for them."

The whistle for the train blew and the twins grabbed their brother Ron before jumping onto the train. "Don't worry Mum, we get it!" Fred called back.

"We'll be good!"

The woman's look clearly showed she didn't believe that sentiment for a moment. The little girl for her part started to cry. Fred and George promised to write and send her the seat to the toilet they blew up since it would likely be wasted on their mother anyway.

The train started to move and the little girl still crying let go of her mother's hand and ran until she couldn't keep up with the train any longer.

Emily looked to Harry, "I can't believe this is happening." Harry nodded his head as his body relaxed back into his seat. They both knew whatever they were heading towards would be better than the life they had led at the Dursleys.

The twins turned when the door to their compartment opened. It was the youngest red head asking if he could join them. The twins nodded and the boy sat down across from Harry. His eyes darted to Harry's forehead before quickly looking out the window.

"There you are, Ron," Fred and George chimed, joining the small group in the compartment. "Lee has a tarantula and we are going to go check it out."

"So, if you need us we'll be there." Ron made a noise of understanding but otherwise didn't answer his brothers.

"Harry, Emily" said Fred giving a slight bow, "We are Fred and George Weasley. This is our ickle little brother Ron. Have fun you guys!"

The three first years waved in goodbye to the pair as they closed the door. Ron was quick to turn to Harry and asked if he was really Harry Potter. Emily tried to introduce herself but he paid her no mind. Since she didn't feel like being ignored she decided now was as good a time as any to go find Draco.

"Har," she said getting his attention. "I'm going to find Draco. Do you want to come?"

"You can't mean Malfoy!" Ron cried. "Their evil, the whole family! Everyone knows that!"

Emily did not like this boy. "He was really nice when we met him."

"Malfoys are not nice!"

"Whatever, Har are you coming?"

"No, I think I'm going to stay here."

"Fine," Emily said grabbing her trunk and Apollo. "I'm going to go find him and sit there." Harry and Ron were already conversing and ignoring her as she shut the compartment door and set off down the train.

She didn't have to search long till she found the compartment that had Draco and a dark skinned boy with black hair and a refined look to him in it. She decided to knock on the door to get the pairs' attention. Draco looking up and seeing her, waved at her to come in. When they realized she had her things, both boys jumped up to help her put them away.

"I love your owl," the boy she didn't know said as he set Apollo on the rack above their heads.

"His name is Apollo. I'm Emily by the way."

"Blaise Zabini, nice to meet you," his eyes scanned her scar, but he made no comment on it. Emily sat next to Draco and Blaise settled into the bench across from them.

"Where's your brother?" Draco asked looking back at the door.

"He met Ron Weasley and didn't want to come find you once Ron called you evil."

Draco nodded his head in understanding, "He doesn't even know me, but it doesn't surprise me." Emily felt there was more to that statement but she got the feeling he didn't want to get into it right now.

"Aren't the Weasleys the ones that have seven children?" Blaise asked looking at Draco for confirmation.

"Seven!" Emily exclaimed. "That is a big family. I saw five of them when getting onto the platform and I thought that was a lot."

"The oldest two don't go here anymore," Draco informed her. "The oldest Bill is a curse breaker for Gringotts and updates the wards for our manor every summer. Father only wants the best and Gringotts sends him out every year."

"What do wards do? I bought a book on them, but I haven't gotten to read it yet."

"They protect the house. Like repelling muggles so they can't find it or keeping people we don't want out."

"Shouldn't you know about these things?" Blaise asked giving Emily a curious look.

"I was raised by muggles."

"What are they like?"

"Terrible. Not all muggles are I guess, but the ones I live with are pretty bad. This last month has been kind of nice though, I spent most of my time reading through all our books and trying to learn everything I could."

"You sound like a Ravenclaw," Blaise commented.

"I have no idea what house I'll be in. Do you guys have any idea? Draco, you said you were going to be in Slytherin."

"My family has been in Slytherin as far back as anyone can remember. I would hate to find out what my dad would do if I was put in another house."

"My family also has a history of being in Slytherin, though there have been a few Ravenclaws," Blaise added.

"I don't know what House my family generally is in," Emily said feeling a tad sad that she didn't know her family history.

"Your parents were Gryffindors," Draco informed her. "Though as far as I know, Potters don't have a specific House they tend to be sorted into. I believe your grandmother was a Slytherin and I know there have been some Ravenclaws in your line as well."

"Really?" Emily looked at the blond with a bit of wonder, how did he know these things about her family?

"It's pretty common knowledge among the Old Families, though my mom was in the same year as your parents and her cousin was your father's best friend."

"Gryffindor is the one House that I don't think fits my personality very much from what I have read." Emily felt slightly disappointed that she would likely not be in the same House as her parents but she guessed, at least if Draco was to believed, her family had a mix of personalities so maybe they would have been proud of her anyway. The boys, sensing she was a bit down with the talk of her parents, pulled out a game of exploding snap and taught Emily how to play as the train carried them out of London. Soon Emily was laughing and enjoying herself with her new friends.

Around twelve o'clock a lady pushing a cart filled with sweets slid their compartment door open and asked if they wanted anything. Draco stood up and Emily followed, she hadn't had any breakfast and was ready to buy as much candy as she could carry. The cart was filled with treats the young witch had never seen before. There were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Exploding Bon Bons, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, Peppermint Toads and a number of other strange things.

"What would you like?" Draco asked gesturing to the cart.

"You don't have to Draco."

"I want to, now what sounds good?"

"The chocolate frogs and licorice wands look interesting."

Draco nodded and turned to the woman, "We need a carton of chocolate frogs, three licorice wands, three boxes of Bertie Bott's and a bundle of sugar quills please."

The woman handed over the candy and Draco paid her before joining the other two. They all shared the candy and talked about various topics from what they expected their classes to be like to Blaise's recent holiday in Greece. It was a nice feeling for Emily, sitting with Draco and Blaise, eating their way through all the treats. She had never had friends other than her brother before and there was a sense of freedom she was starting to feel as the train whisked down the tracks further and further away from the Dursleys.

When the group got to the chocolate frogs Emily grabbed one of the boxes and examined it. Opening it she had to react quickly to catch the frog as it took a big leap into the air. "Whoa…."

"Don't worry, it's just a spell," Draco chuckled as Emily stared down at the chocolate in her hand. "Check and see what card you got though, all chocolate frogs come with cards you can collect."

Nodding Emily bit the head off the chocolate frog as she picked up the card from the box. It showed a man with a long white beard and purple hat on his head. Under the picture was the name _Albus Dumbledore._ On the back of the card was a short summary that mentioned the man had worked in alchemy and enjoyed bowling.

Emily turned the card back over and saw that Dumbledore had vanished. "Where did he go?"

"Pictures don't stay in one place," Blaise said offhandedly reaching for another frog himself.

"In the Muggle world, people stay frozen in pictures, they don't move at all."

"How odd."

Deciding to try her luck with a different sweet Emily reached out to pick up one of the boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"Be careful," Draco warned her. "They truly mean every flavor, you can get anything from apple to vomit flavored ones."

"Want to see how lucky we are? Grab one without looking and then we all compare what we got. We'll see who has the best luck." Emily offered holding the box out in front of her. The boys agreed and soon they were all making faces and laughing at their picks. Emily didn't do too badly; she got strawberry, coffee, grass, cinnamon, marshmallow, pepper, curry, sour lemon and bacon.

As the group was laughing from Blaise's reaction to a rotten egg flavored bean, a tearful boy that Emily had seen on the platform knocked and then proceeded to open their compartment door. "Sorry," he spoke rather awkwardly, "have any of you seen a toad around here?" They shook their heads and the boy seemed to be down trodden, "I'll never find him and we haven't even made it to Hogwarts yet."

"I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure he is on the train somewhere," Emily offered with a smile.

Nodding the boy turned away as if he didn't believe her and left without another word.

"Toads went out of fashion as pets years ago," remarked Blaise as he pushed the box of Bertie Bott's away from him. "If my mom had gotten me one I would have lost it before anyone could see it. I don't know why he's so worried."

"Did you bring a pet?"

"No, I thought about bringing an owl but my mom will probably write often enough that if I need to send her something I can just send it back with him. If not, the school has owls we can use."

"Have either of you heard about the break in at Gringotts?" Draco asked as he glance at the paper he had sitting next to him. "Someone tried to rob one of the vaults and got in and out of Gringotts without being detected. Father says the Goblins are livid."

"I don't get the newspaper living with the muggles. Have they caught the person?"

"No, they didn't realize someone had broken in until it was too late. What makes it stranger is they didn't take anything. I just can't imagine someone getting past the goblins and not taking anything," Emily and Blaise nodded in agreement. It was crazy to think someone would risk breaking into Gringotts, from what Emily had read, the Goblins may not be allowed wands but they had their own powerful magic without them.

"Have you read about Quidditch yet?" Draco asked changing the topic as he tucked the newspaper away.

"No, I didn't get a book on it. Explain it to me!" Emily said eager to learn about anything magical. With those words the boys were off explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous players they liked and games they had attended. They both followed a team called Puddlemere United and promised they would have to take her to a game sometime next summer, they were determined to make her a fan. She had to admit it sounded like a lot of fun and she really wanted to fly a broom.

At some point during the boys discussing the ups and downs of different broom makers the compartment door slid open and three boys stepped in. The boy in the middle had brown hair and was of average height. He was flanked by two thickset boys.

"Draco. Blaise." The middle boy said inclining his head at the two before his eyes fell onto Emily. "Hello, I'm Theodore Nott, but people call me Theo. This is Crabbe and Goyle," he said pointing to the boys behind him.

"Emily Potter."

"Ah, I wondered where you were. I met your brother earlier, he was sitting with a Weasley."

"Oh they aren't all bad," Blaise said seeing the sneer on the newcomers face. "I've heard the twins are supposed to be geniuses who do hilarious pranks."

Theo shrugged, "Well I'm sure we will see soon enough, I just wanted to say hello. We will see you later." He inclined his head towards them and left. The boys and Emily waved at the boy as he left before settling back into their discussion.

It wasn't much later that Emily peered out the window and noticed that the train seemed to be slowing down.

"Maybe we should get changed," Emily said rising from her spot. Looking out the window the boys quickly agreed.

They all took their turns changing into their uniform and robes as a voice echoed through the train, "We will be arriving at Hogsmeade station in five minutes. Students, please leave your luggage on the train it will be sent to your dorms before the end of the welcoming feast. Have a wonderful evening."

Emily and the boys moved to clean up the mess they made by throwing away their candy wrappers and putting away the exploding snap cards that were still lying on the floor.

As people pushed their way out to the platform Emily and the boys held back a bit waiting for a lull to exit the train. Emily shivered when the cold air hit her skin. Blaise and Draco huddled close to her to help them all stay warm. As they were looking at which way to go Emily heard a familiar voice calling for all the first years. Looking in the direction of Hagrid's voice, Emily noticed her brother standing close to the giant. She tried to catch his eye but he was too busy talking animatedly to Ron to notice her.

Hagrid was quite large and towered over the first years, many looked slightly fearful at the sight of him. Once they were all in a group he told them to follow him as he led them down a steep path. Draco and Emily had linked arms as they walked together. It was a very quiet walk as the reality of actually having arrived was beginning to set in. The boy who had lost his toad was sniffling, which led Emily to believe he had not found his pet on the train.

"Everyone look up as we come around the bend here," Hagrid instructed. The first years did as they were told and were not disappointed as they were met with their first glimpse of the castle.

Everyone seemed to be in awe of the sight. When they reached the end of the path they found themselves standing at the edge of a huge lake. Straight across from them on the mountain was the castle with windows that glittered from the light within.

Hagrid led them to a grouping of boats and told them to get in with no more than four people to a boat. Emily got into a boat followed by Draco and Blaise. She looked over to see her brother and Ron getting in a boat with the boy who had lost his toad and a girl she didn't know. When Hagrid had made sure they were all safely in the boats he commanded them forward. Everyone was silent as the boats floated across the water towards the wondrous castle. At one point they reached a curtain of ivy and Hagrid called for everyone to keep their heads down. Blaise nearly didn't duck his head in time, but he was fine thanks to Draco who had tugged on his arm to get his attention.

Next, they went through a tunnel that took them to a place where the boats docked themselves on the rocks. Draco climbed out and helped Emily out before assisting Blaise. Hagrid found the toad that the poor boy had lost among the pebbles and returned it to him. The boy seemed overjoyed to have found his pet and was holding it tight in his hands close to his chest. Hagrid led the large group up towards the castle and up a flight of stairs to a large wooden door. He doubled checked that they were all there before turning to the door and knocking three times.


	7. The Sorting Hat

**7**

 **The Sorting Hat**

When the door opened a black-haired witch was standing before their group in long emerald green robes. She had the presence of a strict woman who was not one to be crossed.

Hagrid called the woman Professor McGonagall as he informed her that he had the first years. She thanked him opening the door wider so the first years could see into the entrance hall. The stone walls, lit by torches, stretched so high there was no way to see the ceiling and Emily thought you could easily put a house or two from Privet Drive within it. Following Professor McGonagall, the students began to make their way into the castle. Emily had to stop for a moment and catch her breath, the magic in the castle hit her like a wall. She swore Hogwarts felt alive.

Draco looked back at her, "Em, are you ok?"

Taking a deep breath, she adjusted to the magic and felt it hum through her body. "Yeah sorry let's catch up."

They joined the back of the group of first years as Professor McGonagall showed them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. Draco and Emily squeezed through the crowded first years to stand by Blaise who had been separated from the pair. Everyone fell silent as Professor McGonagall started to speak.

"Welcome," Professor McGonagall began, "Soon I will be escorting you to the welcome feast. Before the feast begins you will take part in the sorting ceremony. The sorting will place you into one of four Houses Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. All four Houses have produced witches and wizards who have gone on to do great things. While at Hogwarts you will find that your House will be where you spend a lot of your time. You will sleep with your Housemates in the dormitories and spend time in your House common room with your friends. Each year we award a House cup to the House who has earned the most points. If you do well you can earn points for your house but if you are caught breaking the rules you can lose points. We will begin shortly and I suggest you all take the time to check over your appearances as you will be standing in front of the other students."

Emily looked around and noticed the boy with the toad had his cloak fastened under his ear and Harry was pointing to where Ron still had a mark on his nose.

"I am going to see if they are ready to begin," Professor McGonagall informed their group. "Please be patient I will be right back."

As she walked out of the chamber Emily looked to Draco. "How exactly do they sort us into Houses?"

"It's a hat that you put on and it decides where you belong. They say it was charmed by the founders and imbued with some of their magic so that even when they were gone the students could be sorted to their standards. It should be nothing to worry about."Emily nodded and looked around trying to locate her brother who seemed to be paling at whatever Ron was telling him. She noticed the bushy haired girl who had gotten in the boat with her brother was muttering to herself, which seemed to be unnerving those close to her.

Noticing Harry appeared as if he was about to face his ultimate doom Emily was going to go see if he was alright when something happened that made everyone jump and several people even scream.

"Draco what …?" Emily gasped as she watched twenty ghosts come floating through the wall opposite her. They were white and not nearly as transparent as she had imagined. Gliding through the room they appeared to be having a disagreement about something. Emily noticed the one dressed like a monk seemed to be trying to convince the others to give someone another chance.

"You are too forgiving my dear Friar, Peeves has used all the chances he has earned. He makes all of us look poorly to the students. We don't want them to be afraid of us – and who are all of you?" The ghost asked seemingly just noticing the group of children in the room.

All the first years stared at the ghosts no one seemed able to answer the question.

"Our new first years!" offered the Friar jovially. "Are you about to be sorted?" People still seemed to be frozen but there were a few nodding heads in response. "I am sure you are all too excited to speak! I was in Hufflepuff wonderful House you know."

"We are ready," Professor McGonagall said entering the chamber. She looked to the ghost, "You may go to the hall now." The ghosts nodded to her and began to glide away through the wall behind the professor. 

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Emily got into line behind Blaise, with Draco behind her and they walked out of the chamber back across the entrance hall and through the double doors that led into the Great Hall. Emily was in awe as she stepped into the Great Hall. Thousands of candles floated above them bringing light into the vast room. There were four long tables that ran the length of the room filled with students, Emily assumed these must be the House tables. At the front of the hall was another long table going the width of the room where all the professors were sitting. The first years were put into a straight line facing the students sitting at the tables. The ghosts were now scattered along the room, some even sitting at the tables. Emily glanced up at the ceiling to see a night sky dotted with stars above her. She had read that it was charmed to look like the sky outside in Hogwarts: A History.

Professor McGonagall brought out a stool setting it in front of them with a pointed old hat on top. This must be the hat Draco was telling her would sort them. There seemed to be nothing special about the hat from what Emily could see and for a few moments everyone in the hall stared at the object while nothing happened. Then suddenly the hat began to move and began singing from a rip that formed a mouth by the brim. The song was short and spoke briefly of the qualities of each house before falling silent and the hall breaking out into applause. It appeared to give a slight bow before straightening itself up and becoming still once again.

Professor McGonagall unrolled a large parchment and moved to stand next to the stool. "When called please step forward and sit on the stool. I will place the hat on your head, so you can be sorted. Once your House has been announced please move to join their table."

The first named she called was 'Abbot, Hannah' who was a stout girl with pig tails in her hair, the girl was sorted into Hufflepuff House rather quickly after the hat was placed on her head.The table on the far left exploded into cheers leaving no doubt which table the girl should be joining. Professor McGonagall lifted the hat from her head and she walked slowly to join the rest of the Hufflepuffs. She was followed by Susan Bones who also went to Hufflepuff and then Terry Boot, who went to Ravenclaw and was shortly joined by Mandy Brocklehurst. Lavender Brown was the first person to be sorted into Gryffindor House. The table in between the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs exploded into cheers. Emily saw Fred and George catcalling at the girl as she made her way to take a seat with her new House.

Emily watched as Millicent Bulstrode became the first member of Slytherin House. Justin Finch-Fletchley went next and was sorted to Hufflepuff. It seemed that some people were taking longer than others to be sorted. Seamus Finnigan who had been standing next to Harry took a full minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor and he ran off to join Lavender Brown. Hermione Granger was called next and Emily noticed she had been the girl who was in the boat with her brother. She was so eager she ran to the stool as fast as she could and practically tore the hat from Professor McGonagall's hands to get it on her head.

It didn't take long for the hat to declare her a Gryffindor. Emily heard a groan and looked over to see it had come from Ron Weasley who was still by her brother.Emily quirked an eyebrow at this, hadn't the girl shared a boat with him and her brother, why was he groaning?

Neville Longbottom was called forward and Emily recognized him as the boy who had the toad. He tripped on his way to the stool and nervously wringed his hands as the hat took its time deciding where to place him. He was declared a Gryffindor and was so excited he ran from the stool before Professor McGonagall could remove the hat. He turned a bright red as he had to take the hat back so Morag MacDougal could be sorted.

When Draco's name was called he smiled at Emily and confidently stepped forward to sit on the stool. The hat was barely on his head a second before he was declared the newest member of Slytherin House. He grinned at Emily as he went to sit with the Slytherins and she smiled back, she was happy for her friend. Emily watched as more names were called, Janet Moon, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Padma and Parvati Patil and Sally-Anne Perks until finally... "Potter, Emily!"

Emily smiled and stepped forward walking casually to sit on the stool. Whispers had broken out through the hall as students leaned in to get a better look at her.

"Did she just say Potter?"

"Which one is her twin?"

"Where do you think she'll be?"

As the hat dropped over her eyes Emily saw people had even stood from their seats to get a better look at her.

"Hmm," she heard a small voice in her head say. "You are quite the challenge. You thirst for knowledge and your loyalty to those you find deserving is unwavering; you would do anything to keep your brother safe and happy. Your bravery is amazing for someone so young and your experiences seem to have made you quite cunning and resourceful."

"Do you know where you would like to be placed?"

Emily took a deep breath and thought, _**I have no preference**_.

"I can see you will be great, and I believe Slytherin will help you use all your talents to achieve that greatness!"

 _ **Then I trust you, put me in Slytherin**_.

"Okay then, you will be – SLYTHERIN!"

As the hat called out Slytherin, silence descended on the hall. Emily took the hat off and walked towards where Draco was sitting. Draco excited to see her be placed in Slytherin began to clap which startled the table and caused the rest of the Slytherins to recover from their astonishment and cheer for their new housemate. As she sat down she thanked Draco and noticed the rest of the hall was still staring at her even the teachers seemed shocked into silence.

When Professor McGonagall seemed to shake herself from her shock she called out – "Potter, Harry!"

This seemed to make everyone focus as the second Potter twin made his way to the stool. Harry was panicking inside, he had just watched as Emily was sorted into Slytherin. Hagrid and Ron had both told him that Slytherins were evil. How could Emily be in Slytherin, his sister never seemed evil to him. Would he be placed there too? He didn't want to be in Slytherin or lose Ron as a friend, he had never had a real friend before.

Harry sat on the stool unsteadily as the hat dropped over his eyes. Harry heard a voice in his ear, "Ahh the other Potter twin. You have a good mind but you are not as dedicated to your books as your sister I see. You want to prove yourself and a have a good dose of courage. There is much potential just like your sister. Shall I place you with her?"

Harry just kept repeating in his head, _**Not Slytherin, not Slytherin**_.

"Not Slytherin?" the voice repeated the young wizard's mantra. "But your sister is there and like her you could be great. Slytherin will help you…" But Harry cut the hat off, _**Not Slytherin**_.

"You are sure?"

 _ **Yes**_.

"This will be interesting - GRYFFINDOR!"

As the hall heard the hat call out Gryffindor, it erupted into the loudest cheers yet. Percy the Prefect stood to shake Harry's hand enthusiastically, while the Weasley twins were doing a little dance and chanting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Emily looked down at the table; her twin was not in the same House as her. They had never been apart before. What's more he didn't even look at her once.

Draco nudged her, "Hey don't worry about it. Look Blaise still has to be sorted, he looks a bit scared. Hopefully he joins us."She looked over to Blaise who did look to be nervous. Draco and Emily both smiled at him which seemed to help.

Taking a moment Emily then looked up at the High Table properly now. At the end near the Gryffindors sat Hagrid, who was giving Harry a thumbs up and there, in the center of the High Table was a man Emily recognized as Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore wore half-moon glasses and his eyes seemed to twinkle with joy. Emily noticed Professor Quirrell sat closer to the Slytherins and was trembling slightly with a shaky smile as he watched the first years be sorted. The man was wearing an odd looking purple turban that he hadn't worn the day they had met. Emily wondered if it was a custom he had picked up on his travels or a curious wizarding dress she had yet to hear about.

Emily turned her attention back to the few students who were left to be sorted. Dean Thomas went to Gryffindor while Lisa Turpin went to Ravenclaw. When Ron Weasley sat on the stool it took the hat mere seconds to call out Gryffindor. Emily watched as Harry clapped wildly and smiled at Ron as he took the spot next to him. Emily sighed and focused her attention on Blaise who was putting the hat on his head. A moment later he was walking towards Draco and Emily with a smile.

Looking down at the gold plate in front of her Emily realized just how hungry she was. All she had eaten that day had been candy, she was ready for dinner.

"I'm starving," she declared looking up at the boys. They both nodded in agreement.

Albus Dumbledore rose to stand and address the students as Professor McGonagall removed the stool and hat from the front of the room. He looked like he couldn't have been happier as he looked out at all the students before him ready to start a new school year.

He welcomed the students and offered a few words, 'Nitwit, blubber, oddment and tweak', causing people through the hall to applaud him as he sat back down.

Just then Emily felt a wave of magic and was distracted by the food appearing.She had never seen so much food in one place in her life. The Dursleys had never allowed the twins to each as much as they liked. They often spent at least one night a week going hungry and having to sneak out to get food from the kitchen after their aunt and uncle fell asleep.

She didn't even know where to start but she knew if she ate too much she would make herself sick, so she decided on a bit of lamb and roast potatoes. Emily looked around the table as she took her first bites and noticed there was a ghost sitting next to Theo. The boy did not seem too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"Is he covered in blood?" Emily asked examining the ghost closer.

Draco followed her line of vision, "Oh, I think so. That's Sir William, he is known as the Bloody Baron to most of the school. He's our House ghost."

"Oh, do all the Houses have a ghost?"

Draco nodded as he carefully cut his next bite, "I'm not sure on all their real names but I believe The Fat Friar is Hufflepuff's, The Grey Lady is Ravenclaw's and Nearly Headless Nick or Sir Nicholas is Gryffindor's ghost."

"Do they have a purpose?" Emily asked unsure why ghosts would be assigned to a House when there seemed to be far more than four currently floating through the hall.

Draco shrugged, "I don't know."

As they continued eating Draco introduced Emily to Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis who were sitting next to Blaise. They had all grown up together often visiting each others' homes and having sat through what was described to Emily as many a boring dinner party together. The group settled into chats about starting their classes and what they looked forward to most. Emily kept glancing over at her brother but he was so enthralled by the people around him she gave up. When everyone was finished with their dinner the plates cleared and shortly after the tables were laden with new plates filled with decadent desserts. Emily's favorite was a chocolate Swiss roll while Draco and Blaise seemed to be trying a little of everything.

It wasn't long before Emily was beginning to feel a bit tired. While people were still being distracted by their desserts Emily chose to take another look at the High Table, unable herself to take even one more bite. Professor McGonagall was conversing with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Quirrell was talking to a teacher who had black hair as well as a presence about him that Emily felt commanded respect. The black haired teacher looked over at her as if sensing her gaze and met her eyes – a pain shot through her scar and her hand moved to touch her shoulder. The black haired teacher gave her a quizzical look and turned his head away from the young witch.

"Are you all right?" asked Draco.

"I'm fine," Emily answered attempting to roll her shoulder a bit. It was odd though the pain had started at her scar it had seemed to travel into her chest and her head started to throb a bit. "Just a touch of a headache, the magic hums in this place and I'm not quite used to it." She figured it was as good of an answer as any, since for all she knew that could have been her problem, perhaps though she just needed some sleep. "Um, do you happen to know who that teacher is next to Professor Quirrell?"

"Oh, that's my godfather. He is our potions professor and Head of House. He's one of the few people with enough skill to brew the Wolfsbane potion and is well versed in many types of magic. I think you'll like him."

The hall fell silent when they noticed Dumbledore rise to his feet as everyone finished their desserts. "We just need to go over a few things before we head to bed for the night. The Forbidden Forest that is on the grounds is just that, forbidden. We would all do well to remember that." Dumbledore's gaze moved to where Fred and George could be seen snickering at the Gryffindor table.

"If you do not wish to lose points this year it would be wise to note magic is not to be used in the corridors. Madam Hooch would like everyone who is interested in playing for their House Quidditch team to contact her or your team captain. The trails will be held in two weeks and again see Madam Hooch or your House board for exact times and dates."

"This year the third floor corridor is off limits to all. It would have very dangerous consequences should you venture there so I strongly urge you not to." Dumbledore then clapped his hands and smiled as he announced he wished to sing the school song to end their feast. Emily watched as the teachers seemed to be faking looks of joy at the prospect when the Headmaster's gaze fell on them.

With a wave of his wand golden letters appeared above them for all the tables to see. Dumbledore told everyone to pick a tune they enjoyed and sing along which made for an interesting next few minutes. Because so many used different tunes people finished singing at different times. The Weasley twins were the very last to finish having picked the funeral march as their tune, earning a number of glares as people wished for them to hurry up and finish. Dumbledore clapped loudly as the twins finally sang the last note and then excused the students for the night.

The Slytherin first years followed a fifth year named Marcus to the dungeons. He led them to a solid expanse of wall, the only indicator that this was the correct entrance to the dorms were two stone snakes carved into the wall close by. Emily could feel the magic radiating at the center of the wall. She figured that was where the entrance truly hid.

"The password is Salazar. Remember that, it will change every few weeks" Marcus informed them as he put his hand on the wall and repeated the password. He quickly entered the opening that formed in the stone and led the group into the common room.

The Slytherin common room was a long underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which a few chandeliers that had a green glow to them were hanging. A fire was roaring under an elaborately carved stone mantelpiece to the left of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed leather chairs and sofas. On the opposite end of the room were a few tables for studying with green glowing lamps perched on them.

"Welcome to the House of Snakes. This is the Slytherin common room where you will spend most of your time when not in classes," Marcus begun and then pointed to a door behind him. "This door leads to the dorms, there is a hallway through here that has seven wings breaking off of it for each year. Boys are in the left wings and girls are in the right. You'll find your names will be on the door that has been designated for you. You'll also find here at Hogwarts that people tend to dislike our House. Support your fellow Slytherins. If you have problems with someone settle it here in the den. We must be unified outside of these walls. If you need anything, seek out a prefect and we will help you. Professor Snape is always available to us at any hour should you need him. We do live in the dungeons, if your room needs the temperature altered any of the fifth years and up are more than willing to help you. Enjoy your evening."

Marcus nodded to the first years in parting as he went to join his friends by the fire. Emily and Draco decided to sit by the fire as well for a while and talk before going to bed.

"I'm stuffed," Emily announced as she sat down on one of the various couches.

"Me too, I might have been a little overzealous."

"You think? You ate a little of everything,"

"Yeah and it was worth it," Draco said patting his stomach. "So how are you doing? You seemed a bit down when your brother was sorted into Gryffindor."

"I don't know how I feel about it really, we've never been apart much... but I am glad we are in the same House!"

"Me too. Want to play some exploding snap?" Emily nodded and Draco pulled his cards from his pocket. The pair played until they both began to start yawning.

"Let's go find our rooms," Draco said tucking away the deck of cards. Emily agreed standing up and followed Draco to the door that led to the dormitories. Draco opened the door for Emily with a bow. "After you."

"Such a gentleman, thank you," Emily curtsied to Draco and they both laughed as they found the first year hall together. Emily turned right to go to the girls' rooms while Draco turned left to get to all the boys'.

"Night!" they called to each other. Emily quickly found the door with her name on it and paused a moment to stare at the silver plaque. Never before had she had a room that belong to merely herself, it was a slightly overwhelming feeling. Taking a deep breath, she moved the latch and pressed the door forward to enter.

Her room held a four poster ebony bed with a green embroidered damask comforter across it. She noticed her new trunk was already sat at the end of her bed with a fur blanket folded on top, likely provided for how cold the dungeons could get. One wall had a matching desk and bookshelf while another wall held a wardrobe, all were done in the same ebony wood as her bed. Deciding to unpack her things now rather than wait until tomorrow Emily moved towards her trunk and started sorting through her belongings. Once everything was put away she slipped on her pajamas and crawled into bed. This was a new feeling to her, she had never slept alone before. She wondered how Harry was doing and if he was having troubles sleeping alone. She sighed, after tossing and turning a few times, she realized there was no way she was going to fall asleep so she went to her bookshelf and picked out a book before climbing back into bed.

Up on the seventh floor in the Gryffindor dorms Harry was sound asleep, though he was having a very odd dream. Professor Quirrell's turban snaked along the floor and wound its way up to his head. It kept telling him that he should join his sister in Slytherin. Tugging on the cloth he kept repeating that he wanted to be in Gryffindor. His sister stood watching as the turban tightened around his head asking him why he wouldn't join her. Finally, Emily raised her wand and pointed it at the turban. There was a bright flash of light and Harry woke gasping for breath and trembling. When he calmed down he fell back to sleep, unable to recall any of his strange dream when he awoke in the morning.


	8. The Potions Master

**8**

 **The Potions Master**

 _"Look it's her."_

 _"Do you think she's evil?"_

 _"She's in Slytherin."_

 _"Is that her next to that blond boy?"_

 _"Does she have a scar?"_

 _"She doesn't look evil."_ __

From the moment Emily left the dungeons people seemed to be trying to get a better look at her. Their whispers followed her everywhere she went. People would turn around to pass her a second time in the halls and shove others out of their way if it meant they could get a good look at her. She wished they wouldn't and itched to try out a few of the hexes she had read about but restrained herself, or at least Draco did. Her newest friend had gone so far as to hide her wand in his robes while they were walking in the hallways the first few days to avoid any 'accidents'. Apparently, he didn't think it was a good idea for her to practice spells for the first time on other students.

Whenever Emily passed her twin in the halls, she noticed Harry was having a similar problem to her. She never could get close to him though as he always had Ron Weasley close by or a large group was blocking her way.She hoped he was handling the reaction of the students better than she was.

While it was difficult, Emily attempted to ignore the attention in favor of finding her way to classes.Draco and Emily had taken to trying to find different paths to avoid the masses which wasn't an easy task. Hogwarts was a massive castle with a hundred and forty-two staircases, some of the staircases changed directions while you were on them, others led to a different corridor on a specific day, and some had vanishing steps that you had to remember to skip or you would be stuck until someone happened upon you to help.

The magic that surrounded Emily in those first few days was both thrilling and maddening. The moving stairs Emily found fascinating, but the suits of armor were another story, she swore they were more than mere metal suits. There was even a time she felt as if one had been following her but every time she turned to check on it she couldn't tell if it had moved or if that was merely another suit of armor she had neglected to notice in her hurry to get back to where Draco had been waiting for her to return from the restroom.

If they did move, the young witch guessed she shouldn't worry so much, everything in the castle seemed to move around a lot so why not the suits of armor as well. There were doors that would be there one day to be gone the next or the various paintings that all interacted with the students as they mulled through the halls. It all only made Emily's belief stronger that Hogwarts was alive with the magic that hummed through her.

Emily heard many of the students complain about Peeves the Poltergeist in her first few days in the castle. He did appear to be worth a fake door and a trick step or two if you met him and were late for your class but he thoroughly amused Emily. She enjoyed a good prank and he seemed rather harmless. He would throw water balloons, he sang songs loudly following people around and sometimes dropped baskets on people's heads but she had yet to see him hurt anyone, embarrass yes but hurt no.

Emily's favorite joke was when he would sneak up behind someone grabbing their nose and yell, "GOT YOUR CONK!"She had no idea where Peeves might have picked up the idea but it sure did well to distract a crowd.

The thing that was least liked and annoyed people more than Peeves in the castle, was its caretaker Argus Filch. The feeling Emily got around him was unsettling. He seemed to truly loath the students and when she was around him she didn't feel a magical signature. Draco told her he was probably a squib, who she learned was a person born to a magical family but had no powers themselves.

If the man was bad, his companion was worse. Filch had a cat named Mrs. Norris that most of the student body would have taken pleasure in giving a swift kick to. She prowled the halls at night away from Filch looking for rule breakers. When caught by Mrs. Norris a wheezing Filch was never far behind.

Of course, besides the quirks of the castle there were the classes themselves. On Wednesday nights all the first years gathered at midnight to study the stars and planets in the night sky through their telescopes. In Herbology they worked in the green houses with a witch named Professor Sprout. Three times a week they would study the plants and fungi found in the large greenhouses. Emily had never heard of most of the plants except for in her books and was quite thrilled to learn about them. Draco didn't understand her enthusiasm for the class until she explained that the information was useful if she wanted to grow her own ingredients for potions when she was older.

The only class Emily found utterly boring was her History of magic class, for some reason her professor was a rather dull ghost who lacked the 'life', for lack of a better term, that the other ghosts in the castle seemed to exhibit.The rumor was that Professor Binns had died in the staffroom while napping in one of the large armchairs. He had apparently woken to teach his class and did not realized he left his physical body behind him as he made his was to his classroom. There were people who said he still didn't know he was dead but the thought of him not knowing by now was a bit unbelievable to Emily. She couldn't imagine his first class teaching as a ghost had gone all that smoothly, surely a student would have said something when he came floating in instead of walking into the room.

Having a ghost for a teacher wouldn't be so bad if Emily found the class interesting but all they seemed to do was take mindless notes as Professor Binns went on and on about Emeric the Evil and Wendell the Weird. If she wanted to learn anything about History of Magic she was going to have to do some extra reading outside of the class.

Charms was easily a favorite of Emily's. The teacher, Professor Flitwick, was a tiny wizard that Emily supposed had a little bit of goblin blood in him. He had a pile of books on which he stood to see the class over his desk. The first time he took roll and called Emily and Harry's names he had squeaked which had offset his balance enough that he tumbled out of their sight. Other than that, the man seemed like a fair and knowledgeable teacher and Emily was excited at the prospect of what she would be learning in his class.

Another teacher Emily found herself coming to respect was Professor McGonagall. She was a strong and strict woman who was not to be trifled with. At the beginning of her first lesson she had quickly informed the class of the dangers of improperly practicing Transfiguration. It was a complex subject and she refused to allow student to remain in her class that chose to mess around and waste her time.To demonstrate what you could accomplish Professor McGonagall had turned her desk into a pig and then back again. Emily was impressed and a bit disappointed to know that it would be awhile before they would actually start transfiguring large objects into animals. The Professor had given each student a match to turn into a needle after her lecture was over. Emily had been able to change her match easily into a needle on her second try. After McGonagall had awarded her points and shown the class how she had a perfect needle, Emily helped Draco to change his match. By the end of the lesson they had been the only two people to accomplish the task.

Unfortunately, Professor Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a rather big let down. Everyone, not just Emily, had been disappointed after leaving their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. For starters the classroom reeked of garlic, which was supposedly because of the Professor's fear of a vampire he had run into while traveling in Romania and was sure would be coming back for him. Emily rolled her eyes at the thought, if anyone had read the chapter on vampires they would know garlic didn't ward them off. Of course since the students were curious, Professor Quirrell was asked to explain his odd headwear, his turban had been a gift from an African Prince to thank him for eliminating a zombie that had been terrorizing his people. Emily wasn't sure she believed the story, the man supposedly was afraid of his own shadow and feared a vampire so much he was even using muggle methods in an attempt to protect himself. If that alone was strange, another item that didn't quite add up was that Emily also felt two magical signatures coming from Quirrell and his stutter appeared forced at times. And finally, her scar curiously seemed to burn when she was in his presence. It was a rather distracting side effect to the class.

Once Friday came Emily and Draco couldn't contain their joy at their latest feat. They had, for the first time, been able to make it to the Great Hall without getting slowed down by student who wanted to get a better look at the 'Slytherin Potter'. It meant that they had plenty of time to enjoy their breakfast before their classes started for the day.

"We have Double Potions today," Emily told Draco. "I have been waiting for this class all week!"

"Me too, but we have it with the Gryffindors. Why they put two known rival Houses in a volatile class together is beyond me." Emily had to agree with him, she had heard from the upper years that the reason Professor Snape was so harsh was because people try to sabotage other people's potions and that is extremely dangerous.When brewing you needed to be vigilant and add exactly what the ingredients call for and no more.One wrong ingredient or a little too much and the entire potion would be useless or worse could explode.

The reminder of who the Slytherins were having class with put a slight damper on the morning. The witch had been excited earlier in the week when the two Houses had shared Charms class but much to her surprise Harry had ignored her.

Emily looked up briefly as she noticed the mail was being delivered. It had been quite the sight the first day when a hundred owls came swooping into the hall and began looking for their intended recipients to deliver packages and letters to. Apollo had been barrowed by Draco and Blaise the first day to send letters to their parents. He had come back with a care package from Draco's mom who had even added a few things for Emily. According to Draco he had mentioned to his parents that Emily wasn't close to her relatives and his mom being the woman she was, didn't want the young witch to feel left out.

This morning was a bit different though as Apollo fluttered down next to Emily's juice and presented her with a note in his beak. Emily opened the letter at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:

 _Dear Emily, I know you have a free afternoon and was wondering if you would like to have tea with me. I want to hear how you are liking Hogwarts. Send a reply with Apollo._

 _Hagrid_

Emily reached in her bag and pulled out a quill to write a reply.

"Who is it from?" Draco asked leaning in to read over her shoulder.

"Hagrid, he invited me for tea this afternoon."

Emily quickly wrote back to the giant:

 _I would love to have tea with you. See you this afternoon!_

on the back of Hagrid's note and sent Apollo off again. She jumped up collecting her books and grabbing a few pieces of toast. At Draco's raised eyebrow she explained, "Blaise slept in again, he needs to eat."

"What a good mum."

Emily hit him on the arm as they left the Great Hall, "Well if you want to listen to him whine about missing breakfast, be my guest."

Potions lessons took place down in the dungeons close to Professor Snape's office. It was colder of course and people found it to be quite creepy because of all the jarred animals that lined the shelves on the walls.

Professor Snape began class like most teachers, by taking roll. He had briefly paused at Emily and Harry's names to recognize the 'new celebrities' as he called them. Theo and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands at this but a sharp glare from Emily quickly quieted the three. When Professor Snape finished calling roll he looked to the class. His eyes appeared to be empty tunnels of black and gave away no emotion.

"The art of potion making is a subtle science that few can truly appreciate," he began. He spoke softly enticing and drawing the class in. His very presence demanded your attention. It took him a mere word for the class to fall silent and focus completely on him which could not be said for other professors.

"I will not tolerate foolish wand waving or incantations in my class. I don't expect many to grasp the beauty of a softly simmering cauldron or appreciate the delicate power of the liquids that are created here. Potions can bewitch the mind or ensnare your senses. To those who possess the predisposition of this art… I can teach you how to bottle renown, brew splendor and even put a stopper in death, – as long as you are not the dunderheads I am used to teaching."

Emily looked over to Harry who was exchanging questioning looks with Ron. The bushy-haired girl, named Hermione Granger, was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to prove that she wasn't one of the dunderheads Professor Snape spoke of.

"Let's see if anyone has prepared, shall we?" Professor Snape announced as he looked around the room. "Mr. Potter, what have I created if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Granger's hand was in the air before Professor Snape had even finished his question. Emily watched the professor sneer as Harry informed him that he didn't know the answer.

"Let's try again, Mr. Potter. If I asked you to bring me a bezoar where would you go to find me one?" Hermione seemed to be stretching her arm as high as she could without leaving her chair which appeared to be on the verge of falling over if she were to stand.

Emily wished she could help but she knew better than to say anything without being called on first. To be honest she wasn't even sure if Harry would have accepted her help anyway with his attitude this last week. He was starting to feel like a stranger to her after 11 years of only having each other. She watched again as her brother told the professor he did not know the answer.

"Were you too busy to open a book before coming to my class, Mr. Potter?" Professor Snape continued to ignore Hermione's hand as she had begun to wave it around frantically in an attempt to catch his attention. "Why don't we try an easy question, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Hermione finally stood up knocking her chair to the floor in her exuberance. Emily rolled her eyes as her brother again said he did not have the answer but to try asking Hermione who seemed to know.

The few who laughed were quickly quieted by one glance from Professor Snape. "You, sit down," he snapped at Hermione finally recognizing the girl. "Miss Potter would you like to enlighten us on the questions I just asked your brother?"

"Asphodel and wormwood make a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone that can be found in the stomach of a goat and it can save you from most poisons. There is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane, it also goes by the name of aconite." Emily never took her eyes off of Professor Snape but she could feel the glare from her brother on the back of her head. She knew he was upset at her for knowing the answers but she refused to be mediocre any longer. For years she had been forced to do Dudley's homework and make sure her marks never were higher than his. Now that she was able to be herself she would not hide her knowledge.

"Very good, it seems you have inherited your mother's intellect Miss Potter." Professor Snape looked around at the class and sneered, "Well why is no one writing down the answers?"

Everyone began rummaging for their quills and parchment to take notes.

Over the noise Professor Snape added, "Ten points to Slytherin for Miss Potter's knowledge and a point from Gryffindor for your cheek Mr. Potter."

Professor Snape proceeded with class and paired them off before instructing them to brew a simple potion for curing boils. He swept around in his flowing black cloak, watching and criticizing almost everyone except Draco and Emily, who had been paired together much to their pleasure.

The Professor was telling everyone to look at the perfect way Emily and Draco had stewed their horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke began to fill the potions lab. Looking around Emily noticed Longbottom had somehow managed to melt the cauldron he was using into a twisted molten blob. The boy's potion was oozing off the table and onto the stone floor, burning holes in the shoes of those who were close by. Within seconds, the whole class had taken to standing on their stools while Longbottom who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron melted looked to be in pain as boils began appearing all over his skin.

Longbottom cringed even more as Snape snapped at him calling him an idiot. It seemed Longbottom had added the porcupine quills before removing his cauldron from the flames.

It was obvious Longbottom had not read the instructions carefully and had just taken to putting the ingredients in the cauldron. Emily didn't blame Professor Snape for his anger, Longbottom was lucky the potion wasn't doing worse than causing boils. In his anger though Professor Snape rounded on Harry blaming him for not monitoring Longbottom and his partner in an attempt to make himself look good. Emily thought that went a bit far but there was nothing she could say. Emily watched as Harry went to retort only to stop after Ron kicked him in the shin.

As Emily and Draco left the dungeons to go to lunch Emily had mixed feelings. She already loved potions but she was sure her brother's opinion of Slytherins had become even worse and he was angry at her for knowing the answers to Professor Snape's questions.

"Cheer up," Draco said sensing where Emily's thoughts were. He knew that the separation from her brother was hurting her. She had finally confessed to him the night before that she had never been without Harry and that they had even shared a room up until coming to Hogwarts. She had left out the part of the room being a cupboard under the stairs for most of their lives though, she wasn't ready to share that much with anyone just yet.

"You are going to tea with the gamekeeper correct?" At Emily's nod he continued, "Why don't I join you. I can meet him and then we can play some exploding snap and eat a bunch of the sweets my mum sent."

"Sure," Emily agreed as the pair made their way back to the common room. She knew her friend was merely trying to be polite and that he probably could care less about tea with Hagrid but she appreciated the small gesture. "Thanks Dray."

"Anytime."

At five to three Emily and Draco could be found sitting and enjoying tea with Hagrid in his hut. Hagrid lived by the edge of the forbidden forest and had a small pumpkin patch to the right of his home. Inside there was only one room that held a large bed in the corner, a fireplace and a table with large chairs around it for people to sit at. There was a knock at the door and Hagrid rose from the table attempting to pull Fang back. Fang was a large dog who though looking fierce was a big softy and would much rather slobber you to death than bite you.

Hagrid was able to move Fang away from the door long enough to open it to whoever was on the other side.

"One moment," Hagrid called to the person, "Fang stay back!"

Hagrid let the person in which turned out to be two people, Harry and his friend Ron Weasley. Harry seemed to slowly be taking in his surroundings until he finally noticed her and Draco. But as soon as their eyes connected he turned to Hagrid as if he hadn't seen her and introduced him to Ron. Hagrid went about pouring two more cups of tea and inviting them to join them at the table.

"You must be another Weasley then?" Hagrid said, pointing at Ron's freckles and red hair. "I spend a lot of me time chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest. They are sneaky, almost slipped by me a few times but they haven't succeeded yet."

Hagrid passed around what he called rock cakes, the name seemed appropriate since they were hard as a rock and impossible to chew but they all pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid about their first week at Hogwarts. Weasley though, seemed to make it a point to pretend that Emily and Draco weren't in the room, going as far as to cut them off when they were talking as if he had no idea they were in the middle of explaining something.

Emily and Draco were amused to find that Hagrid disliked the caretaker Filch as well. It turns out every time Hagrid enters the castle he is followed by Mrs. Norris most likely on Filch's orders. He seemed to think that Fang would scare the cat if introduced but Emily wasn't so sure as she looked at the dog happily having his ear scratched by Harry and drooling all over the place.

Harry mainly complained about the potion lesson they had that day and was upset that Professor Snape seemed to dislike him. Hagrid tried to calm him saying Professor Snape liked very few people in general. "But he likes her," Harry interrupted pointing in Emily's direction but refusing to look at her or acknowledge her by name.

"Of course he likes her. She's a Slytherin. Everyone knows he favors them." Weasley spat.

"How is winning points for answering questions correctly favoritism?" Emily retorted.

"He only asked you to show Harry up! I bet he told you the answers before so you were prepared. Slimy snakes."

Hagrid trying to stop a fight before it broke out decided to intercede. "How's yer brother Charlie doin' down on the reserve?" It obviously worked because Weasley immediately launched into a discussion about Charlie's work with dragons in Romania and ignored the witch who was glaring daggers at him.

Emily was about to suggest that she and Draco take their leave when she saw a newspaper clipping lying on the table by the tea pot. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet on the Gringotts break in. It stated that it happened on the thirty-first of July and announced that the vault broken into had been emptied not long before the attempt that same day. She remembered Draco mentioning the break in on the train but she hadn't actually read the article on it.

"Hagrid, the break in at Gringotts happened on our birthday. Do you think we were in the bank when the person who broke in was there?"

Hagrid refused to meet Emily's eyes as Harry grabbed for the clipping to read it himself.

"The vault had been emptied earlier that day," Harry read aloud. "Didn't you empty the vault we went to?"

Hagrid grunted and offered them all more rock cakes. Hagrid's reluctance to comment gave Emily a funny feeling that whatever package Hagrid had retrieved had been what the thieves were looking for. Her mind went to the out-of-bounds corridor in the school, could that have anything to do with it? Hadn't Hagrid said he was collecting the item for Dumbledore, stressing it was for Hogwarts?

It was as if Hagrid could see the wheels turning in Emily's head and was quick to shoo the first years all back up to the castle. Emily noticed Weasley was trying to make Harry walk faster so they weren't next to her and Draco which only seemed to fuel her earlier annoyance with the boy.

"Harry!" Emily called, she had enough and it was time she finally spoke to her twin. "Harry will you look at me please?!"

"Emily we're trying to get to dinner, can this wait?"

"You have been avoiding me all week."

Harry shrugged in response, "It's not like we are in the same House."

"So you won't talk to me because I'm in Slytherin? Gryffindors are too good to speak to the snakes in the dungeons even if they are their own sister?"

"Have you not heard what people say about Slytherins?"

"So you would believe rumors you've heard from people you don't know over me, your sister, who you have known your whole life," she dropped her voice low enough that Draco nor Weasley could hear her next words, "Who slept in a cupboard with you for ten years."

Harry looked at her, for a moment Emily swore Harry was about to agree that he was being an idiot but he looked back at Weasley who was impatiently waiting for him and shook his head, "I just don't know what to believe. How can I trust you after you obviously couldn't be bothered to help me today in potions?" With that Harry turned his back on her and caught up to Weasley so the pair could head to dinner.

Draco came up to Emily and hooked his arm with hers. "Come on, we can skip dinner. Let's go play exploding snap and eat a bunch of candy."

Emily who was forcing herself not to allow the tears welling in her eyes to fall, knowing they still had to pass everyone before they got to their dorms, agreed. She doubted she could even eat dinner right know anyway.

Later that evening, Emily was feeling extremely lucky she had made such a great friend. She and Draco stayed up late into the night eating their way through all the sweets Draco's mom had sent, talking, joking and playing exploding snap until they both passed out from exhaustion.


	9. The Midnight Duel

**9**

 **The Midnight Duel**

Theodore Nott had come to be the person Harry hated most in his life, even more so than his cousin Dudley.

His only reprieve was that at least the Gryffindors only had Potions and Charms with the Slytherins, so he didn't have to deal with Nott much during the week. That was, until a notice was posted in the Gryffindor common room. It announced that the first years would be beginning their flying lessons on Thursday but to the dismay of the first year Gryffindors they would be paired with the Slytherins for their lessons.

"Great now I get to make myself look like an idiot in front of Nott," Harry groaned. He had been looking forward to flying lessons more than anything, now he wasn't so sure.

Down in the dungeons, Emily was extremely excited as she read the notice posted in the Slytherin common room. Sure they were with Gryffindors and her brother was still ignoring her but she was not going to let that get in the way of learning to fly. It sounded so freeing to her. For one who had been trapped in a cupboard most of her life flying through the open sky sounded liberating.

"I can't wait!" she told Draco excitedly as they made their way over to common rooms entrance.

"Once you learn to fly we have to teach you to play Quidditch," Draco eagerly agreed. "It's a lot of fun and if you enjoy flying, I think you will like it too. We can't play on the House team yet but it would be fun to get a few people together and play in our free time."

"But I don't have a broom."

"Neither does any of the first years but maybe we could barrow some from the upper years."

"Right," Emily said feeling slightly silly she had forgotten all first years were not allowed brooms.

At breakfast, Theo who had also seen the notice, would not stop talking about flying. Emily wished he would shut up as he complained loudly about first years not being allowed brooms which meant he was unable to try out for the House team. He seemed to feel the team could do with his talents and spent his morning telling improbable stories that always ended with him narrowly escaping a muggle airplane. Emily doubted that the boy even knew what an airplane was.

As the day wore on it seemed like most of the first year boys were full of stories of their impressive feats while flying a broom. Emily overheard the Finnigan boy in charms telling his friends how he had spent most of his childhood racing his broomstick around the hills by his home while Weasley could be heard telling anyone who'd listen to him about his narrow escapes from muggle cars on his brother Charlie's old broomstick.

If Emily thought it was bad when it came to flying, the subject of Quidditch was ten times worse. Everyone who had been raised in the wizarding world had an opinion on Quidditch. There had been a commotion at the Gryffindor table one morning where everyone was privy to an argument between Weasley and a boy named Dean Thomas, who was also a first year, about soccer. Weasley couldn't see what was exciting about a game that was played on the ground and had one ball. Emily, didn't see why they had to have their argument in the hall and interrupt her breakfast.

This morning as Emily entered the Great Hall with Draco and Blaise she noticed that Granger was sitting alone at the Gryffindor table reading a book and taking notes. Longbottom entered behind the three Slytherins and Emily observed Granger lecturing the poor boy on something before turning her attention to her breakfast. Emily found Granger to be a rather odd person, the girl seemed the nervous sort and was always reciting lines from her texts books. Draco supposed she behaved that way because she was muggleborn and wanted to prove she belonged, yet Emily got the feeling the girl would act this way even in a muggle school.

That morning when the mail came, Apollo flew in carrying the weekly package of sweets for Emily and Draco. Narcissa, Draco's mom, had learned from Draco that the young witch didn't get along with her muggle relatives and had taken to including twice as many sweets and making sure Emily knew they were for her by including little notes. Emily had started keeping the little missives, but she hadn't worked up the courage yet to respond. She had never had an adult be so thoughtful before and she wasn't sure how to respond.

As for all the other deliveries happening throughout the hall, Emily paid them no attention until Theo grabbed his goons and made his way toward the Gryffindor. Emily wasn't sure why he would be going over there until she noticed Longbottom who seemed to be opening a package.

"Must he do that?" Emily said nudging Draco.

Draco who hadn't been paying attention looked up to see Theo grab something from Longbottom. "Just ignore him," he offered turning his attention back to his breakfast.

"But he is making the rivalry worse. The Gryffindors are already convinced we're all evil. He goes and causes trouble, making people like my brother and his friends dislike us more. It's no wonder he distrusts me when people like Theo keep bugging them."

"Em, Theo should not be the person your brother judges you on."

As Draco went to put his package in his bag Emily observed as Professor McGonagall approached Theo and the Gryffindors. She shook her head, Draco was right, her brother should know her well enough not to judge her based on others but he was doing just that and if Theo kept this up Harry would never speak to her again.How would they survive next summer with the Dursleys if they were fighting with each other instead of standing united against their relatives?

At three-fifteen that afternoon, Emily and Draco along with the other Slytherins headed down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear day with a slight breeze. You could see the trees of the forbidden forest sway slightly in the distance and despite the small chill in the air, it was a perfect day to learn how to fly. 

There were twenty broomsticks lying in two lines on the ground waiting for them. Emily had been told by Fred and George Weasley, who didn't seem to mind she was in Slytherin, that the school brooms needed to be replaced. According to them some wouldn't even fly in a straight line anymore, so she was careful to select a broom that didn't look too worn.

Fifteen minutes later the Gryffindors arrived, shortly followed by their teacher, Madam Hooch.

"Let's go Gryffindors! The Slytherins are already by their brooms, I suggest you do the same instead of standing over there and chatting all day." Madam Hooch motioned the lions towards the brooms. The seemed hesitant as they looked from the Slytherins to the remaining broomsticks but eventually they all began to move.

When everyone was finally situated by a broom she instructed them to hold their hands out and command the broom up. Emily's broom jumped into her hand at once. She noticed only Draco and Harry had done the same. Blaise's broom had jerked up slightly but fell back down. She saw Longbottom looked as if he was afraid his broom would actually do as he instructed. It was clear he wanted to remain on the ground and his broom seemed to understand that. Granger seemed hesitant, as all her broom did was roll over at her command.

Once everyone had finally gotten their brooms off the ground Madam Hooch showed them how to mount them without falling off. She went around adjusting people's grips on the handle and giving advice. Emily overhead her tell Nott he'd been doing it wrong for years and had to choke back her laughter at the glare he leveled at her when Hooch turned her back to him.

"When you hear the whistle I want you to kick off the ground," instructed Madam Hooch. "Hold the broom steady as you rise a few feet in the air. To come back down just adjust your body to lean forward slightly. Are we all ready? Good then on three, one… two…th –"

But Longbottom, whose nerves had gotten the best of him kicked off as hard as he possibly could forcing his body back and causing the broom to shoot straight up in the air. As Madam Hooch called for him to come back down he kept going higher. He seemed to have forgotten that it was your body movements that controlled the broom as he leaned too far back causing the broom to flip. As the broom flipped he panicked and let go falling toward the ground until he collided with the grass. Everyone heard the crack upon impact and looked at him lying curled up on the grass holding his arm to his chest.

The broomstick now free of its rider took off on its own accord flying until it disappeared into the forbidden forest. Madam Hooch rushed to Longbottom's side and knelt down checking for injuries. She found he had broken his wrist and helped him to stand up so she could take him to the hospital wing. She informed the class they were to stay put and not to touch the brooms until she returned. She put her arms around Longbottom who was crying and still clutching his arm to his chest to lead him back towards to the castle.

As soon as they were out of range Theo began laughing. "Did you see him crying?"

"Shut up" Parvati Patil, one of the Gryffindors, retorted.

"Ooh, do you have a crush Parvati?" Pansy teased, who was one of the Slytherin girls that hung around Nott. "Do you like plump little boys who cry?"

Just then Nott grabbed something out of the grass announcing it was Longbottom's. Emily wasn't close enough to see what it was until Theo announced it was a Remembrall that Longbottom's gran had sent him earlier that morning.

Emily stepped up to Theo and lowered her voice so only he could hear her, "Is this really necessary? Let it go Theo, we don't need to pick fights with them." But he wasn't listening to her and began tossing the Remembrall up in the air and catching it as he walked away.

Emily turned to look at her brother as she heard him tell Nott to give him the Remembrall. Nott just sneered at him in response. Harry demanded he hand it over again and instead of dropping it Theo grabbed his broom telling Harry to come and get it as he took off into the air. Nott wasn't a bad flyer Emily noted grudgingly. Harry moved to pick up his broom and instantly Granger started yelling at him to stop before he got everyone into trouble.

Emily watched as Harry mounted his broom and kicked off hard against the ground. She made to grab her own broom but Draco pulled her back. "Dray! Let me go!"

"No you are not going up there," he said struggling to keep his hold on her. "I know you want to help him but he won't let you and on a broom that could be dangerous."

People around them began to scream and a few girls gasped, Emily quickly looked up to make sure Harry wasn't falling. Looking up she noticed Harry and Nott seemed to be arguing. She stopped struggling and grabbed Draco's hand squeezing it tightly. She watched as Nott threw the Remembrall into the air and watched, to her horror, as Harry dove after it. She stood frozen watching her brother stretch out his hand a foot from the ground and catch it just in time to pull his broom level with the ground and tumble onto the grass.

Emily heard someone scream Harry's name as he held up the Remembrall in victory from where he was lying on the grass. The witch's heart sank as she noticed Professor McGonagall was running toward them. Her brother was trembling as he got to his feet. People yelling at them tended to have that effect. After years of beatings, when someone yells at you like that you know pain is soon to follow.

Professor McGonagall seemed to be having trouble finding words and finally just told Harry to follow her. Emily watched as her brother followed Professor McGonagall and wished she could comfort him. She caught sight of Theo, Crabbe and Goyle's triumphant faces and gave them a sharp glare. Seeing Emily's look the three boys quickly looked anywhere but at her losing their smirks immediately.

Harry followed Professor McGonagall not paying attention to where they were going until she stopped at Professor Flitwick's classroom. She opened the door and asked if she could barrow wood. Harry wondered what wood was. Was it a cane to hit him with like Uncle Vernon used or was she merely requesting the small Professor charm her a piece of wood?

Much to Harry's relief, Wood was a burly fifth year who seemed quite confused at being pulled out of class by Professor McGonagall. Said instructed the two of them to follow her as she led them into an unused classroom down the hall. Motioning them inside, the boys were quick to enter the room where they found Peeves writing rude words on the blackboard and humming to himself.

The professor ordered Peeves to leave, which he did but not before throwing his piece of chalk towards the three of them. When the door was shut Professor McGonagall looked to Wood. "I have found Gryffindor a Seeker!"

Emily was worried about Harry the rest of the afternoon. "He's fine Em, they wouldn't expel him, especially since he didn't start it." Draco repeated for the tenth time. "You need to calm down. Honestly, there's nothing you can do either way and I doubt he would want your help."

Though it stung Draco was right, even if something bad happened to Harry she would be unable to help him in anyway and he had made it clear he wanted to keep his distance from her. As the pair continued walking down the corridor they ran into the Weasley twins.

"Hey Em," they chorused.

"Are you ok?"

"You look worried."

"It's Harry. He got into a fight with Nott during our flying lesson and McGonagall caught Harry flying without supervision, she seemed upset when she was walking him back to the castle. I haven't seen him around since, not that he would tell me what happened anyway... but still."

"Well if it will…"

"Calm you down, milady…" Fred bowed his head towards Emily, "we will tell you a secret!"

"Your brother has been placed on the House Quidditch team!"

"Oliver Wood, the team captain, just told us!"

"But shhhhh, it's a secret," they finished together holding their fingers to their lips.

"We are the beaters you know," they stood up straight and dusted off their robes pompously. "Best in the school if we do say so…"

"And we do Gred."

"That we do Forge." Emily felt a rush of relief flow through her but with it came a slight annoyance at what she was hearing. Her brother hadn't been punished, he had been rewarded for his behavior. "We better go, but we hope…"

"We cheered up the fair maiden."

"Thanks guys." The twins winked at her and took off down the hall whispering to each other.

"I can't believe he is on the team!" Draco said as the entered the Great Hall for dinner.

"Dray, keep it down. We aren't supposed to know."

"I know it's just first years never make the House team, we aren't allowed brooms. He has to be the youngest player in over a century since the rule was enforced." The two sat down and began to load up their plates, now that Emily wasn't worried she realized she was starving.

Emily noticed when Theo and his goons joined the table they were all laughing. "What did you three do?"

"Nothing important," Theo informed her. She looked at him suspiciously and turned her head to see that her brother was sitting head down, whispering with Weasley. Both kept looking over to glance at Theo every now and then. She had a bad feeling about this.

After dinner Emily and Draco left the Great Hall and headed down to their common room to work on their homework with Blaise. It was about eleven o'clock, Emily and Draco were about to head to bed when the witch once again noticed Theo, Crabbe and Goyle watching the clock and laughing. They had been doing that all night since they came back to the common room at nine.

"What are you three laughing about?" she demanded, finally fed up with their behavior. "You haven't stopped watching that clock and snickering since you got back tonight, some of us have been trying to study."

"Let's just say your brother is about to get a week's worth of detentions," Theo answered looking back at the clock with a smirk on his face.

"What did you do?" she said deadly serious. Theo's smile dropped as he realized the witch didn't find his statement as funny as he did. "Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to hex you until you remember?"

"Em," Draco cautioned lightly taking hold of her wand arm.

"We challenged him to a harmless duel at midnight." Emily raised her eyebrow knowing there was more. "And I might have told Filch that people were planning on sneaking out to set him up. It's not a big deal."

"And where exactly did you tell him to meet you for this duel?"

"The trophy room, it's always unlocked," he replied noticing Emily's wand was now in her hand.

Emily swore she felt a headache set in but she allowed her body to relax and took a step back which Draco took to mean she was done with the conversation. Dropping his hold on her arm he instantly regretted it as his best friend sent a mild stinging hex at Theo who grabbed his arm and jumped out of his chair glaring the pair down.

"Bloody hell, what was that for?"

"For messing with my family and making me angry. I will do it again if you don't disappear from my sight in the next 10 seconds." Theo shot the girl one last glare before he motioned for his goons to follow him back to their dorms.

Moving back to where her things were laid out Emily quickly started putting everything away. "Draco can you take my bag back to your room for me?"

"Sure, but why can't you take it to yours?"

"I have to go clean up the mess Theo made and make sure my brother doesn't get himself expelled." Emily had no delusion that if someone told Harry what a duel was he would feel honor bound to go to it. Harry never backed down from a bully which often meant she had to step in growing up.

"Em, at worst he's going to get detention like Theo said, don't be dramatic. There's no need to go anywhere."

"I just am going to tell him that Theo isn't coming and send him back to his dorm before he gets into trouble."

"Why though? No offense but he probably won't even believe you, especially if Weasley is with him."

"I have to try."

Draco shook his head knowing his friend wasn't going to listen to him and slung her bag over his shoulder. He knew Emily showing up in the dead of night was not going to change the Gryffindor's mind on his sister, "Just don't end up with detention yourself."

Emily stuck to the shadows and used a few passages she had found to make it quickly and stealthily to the trophy room. When she got there she held back in the shadows and waited to hear the sounds of Harry or Filch entering the room. It wasn't hard to miss Harry when he got there as he was accompanied by Weasley, Granger and Longbottom. Emily shook her head, he was just asking to get caught bringing so many people with him. Did he want an audience as Theo overpowered him? Unlike Harry, Theo had grown up around magic and had at least a few spells he could use for all Emily knew Harry could only use what had been taught in class so far. She doubted with a friend like Weasley that her twin spent much time studying.

As the four Gryffindors entered the trophy room Emily heard Weasley mention Theo being late and thinking he chickened out.

"Or perhaps he set you up," Emily said stepping from the shadows making the Gryffindors jump.

"What are you doing here snake?" Weasley glared at the newcomer.

"Saving all of you from being caught!" she whispered harshly. "Theo told Filch and he should be here any moment."

Just then Filch's voice carried into the room. He was instructing his cat Mrs. Norris to find them. Emily motioned them all to follow her, she figured the group must be nervous and frightened because they all did as she said without complaint. She led them through the door that was the opposite from where Filch's voice was coming from. The group of first years had all just barely rounded the corner when they heard Filch inside the trophy room. He was muttering about them hiding as Emily led them down a long walkway full of suits of armor. Emily was trying to block out the annoying caretaker and focus on where they needed to go but Filch was getting closer to them.

For some unknown reason to the lone snake, Longbottom squeaked and in a fit of nervousness broke into a run instead of following along with the others. The boy didn't get far though and grabbed onto Weasley in an attempt to keep himself standing when he tripped. Instead both boys fell and smashed into a suit of armor. Emily rolled her eyes, just wonderful, the clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle. The young witch commanded them all to run and the group obeyed. Everyone took off sprinting down the hallway, no one looking back to see whether Filch was following them or not. They swung around an open door and ran down the new corridor, Emily and Harry in the lead.

Emily who knew a hidden passageway grabbed Harry's arm and directed him and the others through a tapestry dashing down it. They came out near the Charms classroom which she knew was far away from the trophy room.

"That should put enough distance between us," Emily panted, leaning against the stone wall and brushing the hair that had escaped her ponytail out of her face. Longbottom was bent over wheezing attempting to breathe. Granger was grabbing at her chest and panting but that didn't stop her from staring straight at Harry and Weasley trying to proclaim that she had told them so.

"Who cares right now? We need to get back quickly before Filch catches us!" Weasley urged looking up and down the hall from where he was propped up against a doorframe.

"Emily's right, Nott tricked you," Granger insisted turning her attention to Harry. "He never meant to come. He told Filch you would be in the trophy room hoping that you two would walk into his trap. The two of you don't think things through, do you?"

"Apparently not," Emily added as she straightened herself no longer needing the wall for support. "They did exactly what Theo wanted them to do. Now I suggest we all make it back to our common rooms and go to bed, we have classes in the morning."

The group nodded and made to leave but just then something came flying out of a classroom, stopping in front of them. Peeves started to laugh as he noticed the group of first years. Emily shook her head as Harry told Peeves to shut up which only made him laugh harder. "Ickle Firsties shouldn't be wandering at this time of night. So very, very naughty you could get caughty."

"Not if you're quiet," Harry insisted. As Peeves threatened to tell Filch, Emily realized Harry and his friends had no idea how to deal with Peeves. She stepped forward to tell Peeves about a prank he could pull to distract him but Weasley was quick to push her out of his way.

"Move," snapped Weasley, as he tried to hit Peeves with his fist. Emily groaned that was the worst move he could have made. Peeves started yelling as loudly as he could proclaiming that he had found students out of their beds in the charms corridor.

The group broke into a run again, passing Peeves and continuing until they reached a door that was locked. Weasley kept pulling on it desperately and telling them they were doomed.

"He's going to find us! We're done for!"

Sadly, Weasley wasn't too far off as Filch's footsteps could be heard coming closer to where they were. "Stop being so dramatic," Emily said waving her wand at the lock. The lock clicked and the door easily opened when Emily pulled on the handle, the young witch smiled at her own success and motioned the others in.

The Gryffindors pushed their way through the door, each trying to be the first one through it until finally they were all safe inside and shut the door behind them. Weasley and Harry pressed their ears against it to hear if Filch was coming while Granger and Emily watched tentatively for the all clear. 

"Peeves, where are they?" Filch's voice could be heard saying. "Tell me."

"You must say 'please' to little Peevesie."

"I don't have time for your games Peeves, tell me NOW!"

"Won't say nothing if you can't tell Peevesie 'please'," sang Peeves.

"Fine —please." They heard Peeves yell the word 'nothing' before cackling with laughter. Filch began cursing and his footsteps moved farther away until they could no longer hear him.

"He's leaving he doesn't think anyone can get through this door," Harry whispered, his confidence setting back in. "We should leave. Neville, why are you tugging on my arm?" Longbottom was indeed pulling on Harry to get his attention but his back was to the other Gryffindor. Finally, Harry snapped when Longbottom didn't reply. "What?"

Emily was already inventorying their surroundings and knew precisely what Longbottom was worried about. They were in the forbidden corridor on the third floor and she now understood why they were told not to come here.

With them in the space was a large dog, so large it filled the whole room. It had three heads all of which were drooling and showing their yellowing fangs.

It seemed to be staring at them. The only reason they were alive had been their surprising entrance but the dog was getting over the shock and was beginning to growl at them in warning. Emily reached for the doorknob, they needed to get out of this room and fast. Rushing out of the room Emily slammed the door shut once the first years were all out and joined the others as they took off running back down the corridor. Filch must have given up on finding them or decided to search another part of the castle since he was nowhere to be seen, though none of them really cared if they were caught at the moment, they just wanted to get as far away from that room as possible. They stopped when they reached a point where they felt they had put enough space between them and the forbidden corridor.

"You guys need to get back to your dorm," Emily said looking at the panting Gryffindors. "Don't run anymore, stick close to the walls and listen for Filch."

Emily didn't wait for a response and turned quickly heading for a passageway she knew was close and would take her near the Slytherin common room. She made her way quietly through the passage and crept up to the expanse of wall that would let her into her common room. Quietly whispering the password as she placed her hand on the wall, Emily entered and went straight to Draco's room. She found him awake, obviously wondering what had happened to her while she had been gone.

"Where have you been?"

"Theo did a good job of tipping off Filch, he wasn't far behind us."

"Well I guess since you don't seem too angry he didn't find either of you then?"

"You mean all five of us…" Emily began as she launched into the story of what had happened, leaving nothing out.

"What is a Cerberus doing in the school?"

"I think I know," she paused for a moment. "It was standing on a trap door. It has to be guarding something."

"What could it possibly be guarding? We're in a school."

"I think it's the package Hagrid removed from the vault when he took Harry and I to Diagon Alley."

"The same package you think those robbers were trying to steal when they broke into Gringotts?"

"Yes, I'm just not sure if Harry noticed it though. If he did he won't be able to stop until he knows what's being protected. His curiosity has gotten us into trouble in the past."

"Well let's hope the Gryffs didn't notice. I'm exhausted let's just get some sleep." Emily nodded and crawled into bed next to Draco, too tired to go back to her room. As she fell asleep her only thought was on her brother and hoping he wasn't trying to put the pieces together.


	10. Halloween

**10**

 **Halloween**

Emily was exhausted as she entered the Great Hall with Draco for breakfast the next morning. Looking over at the Gryffindor table the witch groaned as she saw the cheer in her brother's face. "I don't think they understood the danger of the Cerberus," Emily told Draco as they took their usual places at the Slytherin table.

Draco looked over to see Harry and Weasley hunched over talking with excitement, the Granger girl kept looking at them with disapproval. "Well at least Granger seems to not have found it as exciting. Maybe she can stop them before you have to step in again."

"Last night she kept telling them she knew it was a set up but she still went with them anyway."

"I don't know, maybe you should figure out what is in the package before your brother then just in case. I mean it has to be really dangerous or very valuable for Dumbledore to bring it here."

"It's probably both," Emily said towards the coffee. "Can you pour me some, I need caffeine if I'm going to make it through the day."

As Draco grudgingly poured Emily's coffee, everyone's attention in the hall was drawn upwards as the mail arrived. Emily noticed a long, thin package that was being carried by six large screech owls. She watched as they dropped the package in front of her brother.

"I think that is his new broom," Draco whispered to her.

"Oh, right I forgot about the Quidditch thing. How did he order a broom so fast?" Emily asked taking a sip of her coffee before having to cover a yawn. "I am way too tired to function today."

"He probably sent out the owl order yesterday come on, you will be fine by lunch, you just hate mornings," Draco answered getting up from his seat.

"I'm bringing a cup of coffee with me. I should consider getting a coffee mug..." Draco just rolled his eyes at his best friend.

As Emily and Draco left the Great Hall they noticed Flitwick approach Harry and Weasley who were looking triumphant while they said something to Nott.

"I thought I told Nott to leave my brother alone?"

"Not in so many words."

"A stinging hex counts."

"Em, you are never going to stop the rivalry. You are just going to have to accept that. Nott is very much stuck in his ways and no amount of stinging hexes is going to change that."

"Should I try something a bit stronger?" Emily asked half-jokingly.

"Very funny… no, I think you need to let your brother fight some of his own battles and Theo is not that big of a threat to him."

Emily and Draco entered the common room that afternoon and took two spots by the fire. Both found homework quite easy and never had much to do being first years so they spent their time researching subjects that interested them or reading by the fire.

It wasn't long before their peace was disturbed by a disgruntled Theo who had entered the common room and marched straight up to Emily. "Why does your brother have a Nimbus 2000?"

"Why should I know?"

"You are his sister!"

"Yes, because we have been so chummy since I was sorted into Slytherin."

"You hexed me over someone you don't even talk to?"

"He is still family," Emily said turning her attention back to her book to show she was done with the conversation. Theo huffed but made no further attempt to speak to the witch. Emily had a hard time focusing after that. Finally giving up she shut her book and set it down on the side table. "I can't concentrate, this is pointless."

Draco looked over at her and set his own book down after marking his place. "I have an idea, why don't you go put your book away and change into your jeans."

"Ok…" Emily said not knowing what Draco had in mind as she saw him run up to the fifth year Prefect Marcus Flint. When Emily came back from changing she noticed Draco was standing with Marcus, who was carrying his broom, both were waiting for her.

"Draco thought you might enjoy learning about Quidditch and going for a fly. Does that sound good?" Marcus asked her.

"Yeah, that would be great" Emily replied smiling over at her best friend.

"Well come on then, Wood has the pitch booked tonight at seven but we can still be on it till then."

Marcus led the two first years down to the Quidditch pitch on the grounds and Emily took in the sight of the empty stadium. It was an amazing sight, the towers set up for thebystanders stretch far into the sky. Emily was starting to image why people loved the sport, there was an element ofdanger having to be so far up in the air on a broom and to maneuver the field with a ball she could only imagine. Marcus set his broom down and ducked out of sight through a door off to the side, reemerging with a crate that he set down in front of Emily.

"Quidditch isn't too hard to learn," Marcus informed her. "There are seven players on a team. Each team has three hoops they need to defend." He pointed to the golden rings high in the air on either end of the pitch. "You score by throwing the Quaffle through the hoop. Each goal is worth ten points." Marcus opened the crate and pulled out the largest red ball. "This is the Quaffle." He tossed the ball to her. Emily caught it and threw it up in the air testing out the weight, it was lighter than she expected. When she turned her attention back to the fifth year he continued. "Each team has three chasers whose job it is to get the Quaffle through the other team's hoops. There is one Keeper and it is their job to stop the Quaffle from going through the hoops." Emily nodded in understanding, this was easy three chasers who tried to make goals and a keeper who acted like a soccer goalie protecting the hoops. Marcus picked up a bat, handing it to her as he took back the Quaffle to put it away. "Now to make it a little harder we have Bludgers," he pointed to the two balls in the crate that where fighting their chains to get free. "I'm not going to take them out right now, but the Bludgers try to knock people off their brooms. Each team has two Beaters who use their bats to knock the Bludgers away from their teammates and towards the other team."

Emily thought this sounded even better. The Bludgers presented a challenge to the players. She thought she might enjoy being a chaser, flying through the air trying to score a goal while dodging Bludgers and other players.

Marcus turned back to the case and pulled out a small golden ball that had wings. "This is the Snitch, it is small as you can see and incredibly fast making it hard to catch. The seventh player on the team is called the Seeker, it is their job to catch the Snitch. Once caught the game ends and 150 points goes to the team who caught it."

Emily nodded, "Sounds fun, I can't wait to watch the first game."

"The best games are always us verses the Gryffs," Marcus told her. "They are known for getting a bit out of hand, but what's a little Quidditch without an injury or two. We've won the Quidditch cup ever since Charlie Weasley left the school to chase dragons. He was a good player, they say he could have gone pro but apparently he loves the creatures more."

"Weasley?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, he's the second oldest of the seven." Marcus answered as he looked up in the air, likely gaging the time. "He was a Gryff like the rest of them but you had to respect his skill. If what I hear is true, he lives in Romania on a Reserve now."

"I see," the witch slightly remembered the boy being mentioned before while at Hagrid's.

Marcus smirked and took the bat back putting it in the crate. "So what do you say about me taking you for a fly around the pitch before I let you loose on your own?"

"That would be amazing."

Nodding Marcus quickly moved to put the crate back where he had found it. When he came back Draco gave her a smile before turning to go sit and watch from the stands. Emily was really excited, she was going to have to thank Draco for this. It really was just the pick me up she needed.

Marcus picked up his broom and instructed Emily to sit on it in front of him. He wrapped one hand around her waist and used his other to hold onto the broom as he kicked off. As the pair flew around the pitch Emily felt a sense of ease. Marcus dove and climbed making Emily's stomach jump with excitement. Finally Marcus landed and they got off the broom.

"That was so much fun!" she exclaimed not able to hide the smile on her face.

Marcus returned her smile and held out the broom to the first year, "You want to try to fly by yourself?"

Emily nodded and he gave her a few instructions before telling her to kick off. As the wind whipped through her hair she felt a sense of freedom she had never felt before. Flying was almost as easy as breathing. She wove through the hoops and dove towards the field only to pull up at the last second.

Much too soon for Emily's liking Marcus called her back down. "You're a natural," he told her as he accepted his broom back. "I hated to stop you but we need to head in. Wood will be out here in about fifteen minutes."

Draco came down from the stands and joined the pair as they all made their way back up to the castle.

"Have you two been to the kitchens yet?" At the negative shakes from the first years Marcus smirked. "Well then, how about I show you two where the kitchens are and we can get something to take back to the common rooms since dinner is about to end." Draco and Emily were quick to agree, the pair always up to learn more about the castle.

The kitchens it turned out were behind a painting of fruit, and close to the Hufflepuff common room according to the Prefect. You just had to tickle the pear and a door appeared. The house elves working in the kitchens were more than happy to give the three Slytherins anything they wanted. Emily was sure the two baskets they made up for their small group could have fed everyone in Slytherin House.

As they made it back to the common room laden with food Emily looked between the two boys, "Thank you guys, I really needed this."

"Anytime little snake," Marcus answered the first year. "If you need anything you can always count on your housemates. Slytherins stick together."

Emily and Draco took one of the baskets and headed off to Draco's room as Marcus joined a few friends by the fire. That night Emily couldn't help but feel she was really lucky to have a friend like Draco.

Emily was wondering how the time had passed so quickly. She had been in the castle for two months now and she couldn't believe how at home she felt. Privet Drive had never been a home to her and Harry. At best they were live in servants but here she was herself. She was a witch who could fly a broom, study for fun, and hang out with her best friend eating sweets in their dorm late into the night. The only piece missing was her brother but Draco kept her well distracted.

On Halloween morning the castle woke to the smell of pumpkin and spices filling the corridors. Even better for most, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start levitating objects. Many had been looking forward to this lesson since Professor Flitwick had demonstrated it on Longbottom's toad. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs and as always Emily was paired with Draco.

Emily noticed that Harry was paired with Seamus Finnigan and much to her amusement Weasley seemed disgruntled at being paired with Granger. Though Emily noticed the poor girl didn't look too happy to be paired with the red-head either, she didn't blame her.

"Remember the wrist movements we have been working on!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. As usual he was perched on top of a pile of books overseeing the class. "You make a simple swish and flick motion. Remember the correct pronunciation of the incantation or you may end up as the wizard Baruffio who said an 's' instead of an 'f' and was crushed by a buffalo appearing on his chest."

Emily who didn't need to say the incantation looked around as people were struggling to perform the correct wand movements and say the words just right. The young witch wondered why they didn't just tell them what she had found, that magic was intent based. If she wanted something to happen all she needed to do was think of the spell and task while channeling her magic through her wand. She was by no means perfect or had a massive repertoire of spells but she was working her way through the basics currently and simple levitation of light objects was something she had practiced before.

Turning to Draco, she gave him a confused look at his raised eyebrow."Are you waiting for something?" he said pointing to the feather. Emily shook her head and flicked her wand at the feather raising it into the air. Professor Flitwick turned, seeing her feather in the air he let out an excited squeak and almost toppled from his books.

"Well done Miss. Potter! Everyone look over at Miss. Potter who is levitating her feather!" Professor Flitwick called out to the class. "10 points to Slytherin!"

Lowering her feather, Emily went back to observing the class. Finnigan looked to be getting impatient and began to prod the feather so much so that he somehow set fire to it, she smirked as Harry was quick to pull out his hat from his bag and put it out.

She next turned her attention to where Weasley was shouting, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The boy was waving his arm around in exaggerated circles like a propeller.

The sight was hard not to laugh at, Emily could hear Granger trying to correct Weasley's pronunciation and arm movements but all that seemed to do was make him move his arm faster. Finally getting angry at his lack of results and the constant nagging, the young Gryffindor put down his wand and challenged her to do it.

Granger focused on her feather and stated the incantation, on her third try she correctly levitated her feather a few feet above the desk before bringing it back down.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "5 points to Gryffindor!"

"Are you going to let the Gryffindors take the rest of the points today?" Emily challenged her best friend. Draco rolled his eyes at the witch before quickly following in Grangers footsteps and earning 5 points for Slytherin.

When class ended Emily watched as Weasley practically dragged Harry out of the classroom glaring daggers at Granger over his shoulder as they went. Granger for her part was not far behind them and despite the look from Weasley seemed to be attempting to catch up with them.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and soon Emily was being wowed by the decorations of the Great Hall. Thousands of bats flew overhead in the hall and carved pumpkins floated above the tables, their candles flickering whenever a bat flew past. Everyone seemed in good spirits and the feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet once the majority of students were seated.

As she started eating Emily overhead Daphne tell Pansy that Weasley had insulted Granger after Charms and that she had seen the Gryffindor crying in the bathroom. From what Emily could hear the poor girl had been hiding the bathroom all afternoon and since she was absent from the feast very well may still be in there. Emily felt bad for the girl, Weasley really didn't seem to be able to sensor what came from his mouth, as she well knew from the insults he threw at her and other Slytherins often in the hallways.

She decided she would take something to the girl and see if she couldn't get her to come out of the bathroom when Professor Quirrell came barging into the Great Hall, his face looked panic stricken as he reached the Head Table. "There's a troll in the dungeon… I-I-…" he never finished his thought as he fainted, collapsing onto the stone floor.

The hall broke out into screams of terror, though everyone froze as Dumbledore released a few loud bangs with his wand. Once he had them silenced he instructed the prefects to lead the students back to their dorms. Marcus began to round up the first and second years telling them he would be taking them to library since the troll was in the dungeons.

Emily highly doubted a troll could get in without a teacher's help and she had an idea as to who it was that let it in. Her mind flashed to the forbidden third floor corridor. She turned to look behind her and noticed the professors had all disappeared including Professor Quirrell. She looked to the Gryffindor line and saw her brother and Weasley slip into line with the Hufflepuffs and groaned. Of course they were sneaking off somewhere.

Noticing Blaise and Draco were talking she took the opportunity to follow her brother before Draco turned back to check on her. She followed the pair as they skidded down a corridor and hurried toward what she knew was the girl's bathroom. They must be going for Granger. She found that slightly odd since they were the reason the girl was in there in the first place. Emily quickly fell back into the shadows avoiding being seen by the boys as they stopped when the sound of footsteps could be heard behind them.

"Percy," she heard Weasley snap as he dragged Harry behind a statue. Emily looked over to where the footsteps were coming from and saw Professor Snape instead of the redheaded prefect, he was heading for the third floor. She sighed in relief he must be thinking the same thing she was.

Emily's attention was quickly drawn back to the boys when she heard Weasley ask Harry if he smelled something. Emily sniffed and a foul stench reached her nostrils, it smelled of dirty laundry and rotten eggs. She watched as the troll that was supposed to be in the dungeons moved from another hall into the corridor. It had to be about twelve feet tall, its skin looked to be a grayish green color and it drug a large wooden club on the floor behind it. The troll stopped next to a door. Emily had to move to get a better look as the troll seemed to make up its mind and entered the doorway. She heard Harry tell Weasley they should lock it in the room. Emily quickly decided to stop them as they edged toward the open door. Before she could intervene Harry leapt at the door, slamming it shut and locking it.

"Harry, unlock that door!"

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked whirling around to see his sister walking quickly towards him.

"Saving you again, now open that door Granger is in there!" The boys seemed to come out of their shock at her appearance at the mention of Granger when a scream could be heard from inside. When neither boy made to move, Emily shook her head and reached for the door unlocking it and pulling it open with some effort. The three first years ran inside to find Hermione Granger on the far wall looking as if she was about to faint, the troll was making its way towards her. "We need to change his focus!" Emily yelled at the boys.

Harry picked up a broken tap and threw it against a wall to confuse the troll.The troll stopped and seemed to be looking around searching for what had made the noise. His eyes found Harry and he made to go after him. Weasley yelled in an attempt to help his friend and threw a pipe as hard as he could at the creature. The pipe missed the troll but his yell caught its attention and he turned toward Weasley giving Harry the time to run to Granger.

"Run Hermione! Come on we need to get out of here!" Harry yelled trying to coax Granger away from her spot on the far wall, she didn't move. Harry grabbed for her arm to pull her with him but she stood frozen in shock.

Emily for her part was thinking how best to disarm the troll, she knew most spells would bounce off his thick skin. Looking towards where the Gryffindors were standing, Emily wanted to scream as she watched her brother do something very stupid. He ran and jumped onto the troll grabbing its neck and accidentally getting his wand stuck up the creature's nose. The wand had clearly caused the troll pain and it began wildly flinging its club around. His hand moved to grab Harry and Emily knew she had to act. Thinking quickly the young witch flicked her wand at the troll's club and levitated it above the trolls head before allowing it to drop. The troll swayed and looked like it was about to fall and hurt Harry, without really thinking Emily sent an overpowered Petrificus Totalus and the swaying troll froze falling forward avoiding all the people in the room.

It was Granger who spoke first. She looked to Emily asking if it was dead.

"No, it's not dead," Emily informed the girl as she tried to catch her breath, she had put a lot of power into that spell and for being so young she could feel the effects of it on her body.

Harry bent down and retrieved his wand from the troll's nose. It was covered in gray troll boogers, making the other occupants of the room cringe in disgust as he attempted to clean it off.

The door slammed open and loud footsteps coming towards them made the first years all look up. A moment later, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape ran into the bathroom neck and neck. Quirrell entered a few moments after them and looked like he was about to faint again at the sight of the troll. He squeaked and moved over to a stall to sit down.

Snape's eyes locked onto Emily before bending over the troll. Professor McGonagall didn't even look down her eyes trained on her cubs. She looked angered and her face was white.

"What are you all doing in here?" the Professor asked with cold fury in her voice. "You should be in your dorms with your Housemates. You could have been killed!"

None of the Gryffindors seemed to be able to find their voice so Emily stepped forward and decided to take charge. "Hermione was in the bathroom because someone from her house had insulted her earlier," the Slytherin informed the Professors sending a glare towards Weasley who was pretending not to notice.

"Is that why you missed your lessons this afternoon Ms. Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Seeing Hermione nod, McGonagall become more angered but before she could say anything Emily continued, "I had heard that she was in the bathroom and came to warn her, when I got here the boys were about to do the same thing but the troll came by and entered the room first. We followed quickly, there was no time to get someone else to help. Harry tried to distract it as did Ronald so that Hermione could run but she was too shocked to move. Harry jumped on the troll which only angered it. To save him I levitated the club and used it to knock out the creature."

The professors looked at her stunned. McGonagall seemed to recover first. "I am disappointed that it was bullying in my own house that led to this and will have to take 15 points from Gryffindor for it. I think Miss. Potter that 10 points for your quick thinking to disarm the troll is in order, though I would like to point out how lucky you all are to survive a full grown mountain troll. Now you all should get back to your dorms and ready yourselves for bed." The three Gryffindors didn't need to be told twice and quickly left the bathroom before anything else could be said.

"I will escort Miss. Potter," Professor Snape announced leading Emily out of the bathroom. The two walked quietly for a few minutes until finally Professor Snape spoke breaking the silence. "We both know what you said in the bathroom is not exactly how it happened."

Emily knew he wasn't asking her a question. "My brother hates me right now because I'm a Slytherin, but he is my brother, I had to protect him."

"You also got a spell through the troll's skin. You did not just levitate the club." At Emily's stunned look he continued, "There was a mark where the spell hit the troll and though you look quite composed I can sense you are feeling a bit exhausted, am I correct..."

She normally never trusted adults but Professor Snape was someone she looked up to and felt she could trust him. She didn't think he wanted to hear the whole story so she answered him with the simple truth, "I used an overpowered ' Petrificus Totalus' ."

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing else. When they approached the Slytherin common room Professor Snape bid her goodnight and left. As Emily entered the common room Draco ran over to her.

"Where did you go? I was worried."

"I'm sorry," the girl offered just as her stomach started to growl.

"Let's grab some food, they have plenty set up so we could finish the feast. We can eat in my room while you tell me what happened."

Nodding Emily followed the blond over to where the food was laid out and the pair made their way to Draco's room so she could tell him everything that had happened when she snuck out of line to follow her brother. The two snakes talked late into night. Emily told him she thought the troll was a distraction to get to whatever the Cerberus was guarding and Draco agreed, neither could see another reason for the creature to have been let loose in the school. Eventually they both grew distracted from thoughts of trolls and three headed dogs by candy and games of chess until they both passed out from exhaustion.


	11. Quidditch

**11**

 **Quidditch**

As they entered November, the Quidditch season had begun and sent the members of the castle into endless chatter on who would be winning the cup this year. On the upcoming Saturday, Emily would be watching Harry play his first match against her House team. She had heard that the rivalry held between Gryffindor and Slytherin was enhanced on the Quidditch pitch and there was always someone injured during the games. It was for those reasons the majority of the school whether they were fans of the game or not came out to watch the two Houses compete. The idea of someone she knew getting injured was a touch unsettling but she was excited to see her brother play even if it was against her House.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because as Fred and George had told her, Wood had decided that Harry should be kept hush-hush as a sort of secret weapon. But this was Hogwarts and as with all secrets it leaked to the entire student body. Emily thought that the broom being delivered to him at a meal might have been a dead giveaway but apparently no one had been the wiser at a first year receiving a broom. Draco on the other hand had recognized the package for what it was immediately and pointed it out to her.

Emily heard many things said about her brother the week leading up to the match. Some people seemed to think he would be brilliant because apparently their father had been a great Quidditch player when he was at school. Other people seemed to think they'd need to put a net beneath him to catch him when he fell. Quite a few people who had remarked on the need for a net had red marks on their arms from where they had been hit with stinging hexes. The students had no idea where they had come from and were at a loss as to who in the crowded hallways had been the person to cast the spell, often playing it off as being a missed target.

Emily had dragged Draco to the trophy room and looked through the Quidditch trophies after hearing her father had played Quidditch. She found a plaque that had named her father the Gryffindor team captain. There had even been a picture by the plaque of the team that year and a younger version of the man she remembered from her dreams had been in it. She didn't know who he was, but the picture let her know the man was real.

Whenever Emily saw Harry he seemed to be a bit overwhelmed. He appeared more relaxed however, when he was strangely enough, seen reading a book that Draco recognized from the cover as _Quidditch Through the Ages_. That had led to Draco lending his copy to the witch so she could read it herself.

Emily had to admit it was an interesting book. She learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473. She read that Seekers, her brother's position, were normally small and fast gaining the most serious injuries while playing.She was encouraged to read that death rarely occurred during Quidditch. It seemed though that referees had an odd habit of disappearing during games only to be found in the Sahara Desert. How that occurred was anyone's guess as the most recent victim to vanish had been found only just last summer according to Draco.

Emily had also observed that Granger and her brother had seemed closer since Halloween. She hoped they were friends, she felt someone like the bushy haired bookworm would be a good influence on her brother.

The day before the big match Emily and Draco spent their afternoon brewing a healing salve. They had both noticed Professor Snape had been walking with a limp since the incident on Halloween. His leg didn't seem to be healing, the pair knew the man was busy and probably neglected his own care in favor of everything else that needed his attention.

Normally when the first year Slytherins wanted to brew something they asked Professor Snape if they could use his classroom while he graded. The perks of using his classroom meant the professor would often give them pointers that were not in the books they used in class. Emily and Draco doubted though that he would let them use the classroom if they told him what they wanted to brew was for him. Draco had informed Emily that his godfather was a proud man and Emily had no doubt about that. She could not hold that against someone else when she herself had trouble asking others for help. Both Emily and Draco who knew they were not supposed to be brewing without supervision decided to use an empty classroom in the dungeons that Emily knew Fred and George often used when they were working on a potion for their pranks.

"He is not going to appreciate us meddling," Draco said as he stirred the cauldron clockwise ten times.

"He will be thankful when his leg is healed," Emily retorted cutting the sage that needed to be added next.

"You are positive adding the sage will be ok?"

"Of course, it has no negative reactions with any of the ingredients and it is a healing herb. If we just add it for the last ten minutes, it should enhance all the healing properties." Draco nodded and removed the stirring rod so Emily could add the sage. "Now we just need to let it simmer. We should also clean up our mess while we wait."

Draco nodded and the pair set about tidying the area they had been using. It wasn't too bad but they didn't want to leave anything that could be found later by someone.

When the salve was done, the pair had enough for three tubs. They filled the containers and finished cleaning by emptying out their cauldron. They would need to see about getting a sink or using a water spell if they were going to be working outside of the classroom often as the cleaning charm Draco showed Emily didn't really seem to do the best job on the pewter cauldron.

It was decided that Draco would head back to the dorm to put away everything they had used and Emily would find Professor Snape. The young witch decided to look in the most obvious spot first and upon finding the professor's office empty she headed to the staffroom where she saw her brother dart from the room. Harry sprinted up the stairs in the direction of his common room without even noticing his twin, Emily couldn't help but wonder why he was in such a hurry. As she continued up to the door Filch walked out and glared at her before continuing on his way. Emily peered into the already open door and saw Professor Snape sitting by the fire.

"Professor Snape," she said while knocking lightly on the door frame.

"What?" he snapped. The man's expression was angry until he noticed who was speaking and he appeared to relax. "I apologize Miss Potter, do you need something."

"Um I just wanted to give you this," she placed the bag holding the healing salves on the table by the door. Thinking she should probably leave before he realized what she had brought him she added, "I do have an essay I am working on and should go finish it now but I didn't just want to leave this on your desk. Good day Professor."

"Good day Miss. Potter," he said inclining his head as he made to move to where she had set the bag.

Emily hurried back to the common room to meet up with Draco. When she entered she noticed him sitting by the fire and went over to join him. She sank into the spot next to him on the couch and put her head on his shoulder tucking her feet under herself.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"I put the bag on a table by the door and told him it was for him. I then quickly excused myself to work on an essay before he could reach the bag and find out what was in it."

"Good idea." They were quiet for a moment staring into the fire before Draco added, "You ok?"

"Yeah it was just odd, when I got close to the staffroom my brother came running out of it and dashed to the stairs. Filch followed him out but went a different direction not interested in the slightest about following him. I'm just curious why he was running out of there so fast."

"Who knows, why don't we go get my chess board and play a game or two?" Draco offered.

"You better be ready to lose again!"

"In your dreams!"

The next morning the Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of breakfast and everyone was excited for the match. As Emily passed the Gryffindor table she noticed that Harry seemed to be pushing the food on his plate around while Granger seemed to be trying to convince him to eat.

"Ready to watch some great Quidditch today?" Marcus asked Emily as she and Draco sat across from him.

"Yeah, best match up and most looked forward to game of the season I'm told."

"Should be interesting, your brother is playing as their Seeker."

"Yeah I heard that," she shrugged while reaching for a blueberry muffin.

"Still not talking?" he asked. Emily shook her head and began to eat her muffin. "Well, just think about the great game us Slytherins are going to play today!" He reached over, patting her shoulder and left the hall followed by members of the House team.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to have come to watch the matchup between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Many students had binoculars because even though the seats were high up most of the game was still hard to see without them. Emily was secretly wearing a red spaghetti strap under her green long sleeve t-shirt that she had charmed 'Slytherin' onto in silver. She even added a gold ribbon to her green and silver ones that she tied into a bow around her ponytail. She may want her House team to win but that did not mean she couldn't support Harry and was routing him on inside, not that he currently deserved her support but she wasn't ready to give up on him just yet.

Many of the Slytherins seeing Emily's shirt had asked her to charm theirs for them as well. It seemed as if the young first year had started a new trend in her House.

As Emily and Draco picked out seats in the stands Emily couldn't help but feel a slight bit uneasy. She wasn't sure if it was because she was worried about her brother or something else. But something just felt off to her.

It wasn't long before Emily was watching as Harry followed Fred and George out onto the field. He looked a bit green and she hoped his nerves weren't getting the best of him.

Madam Hooch was refereeing the game and stood in the center of the field waiting as both teams formed semi circles on either side of her. "I want a clean game," she paused looking at both teams before continuing, "from all of you."

Emily saw her brother smile and followed his line of vision to see where Granger and Weasley were holding up a large banner with his name on it. Emily, seeing the players mount their brooms, grabbed Draco's hand nervous for Harry and still feeling anxious that something was not right.

"Deep breaths Em, he will be fine," Draco told her.

Madam Hooch's whistle was heard throughout the stadium. The players kicked off the ground rising into the air, the game had begun.

"Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor immediately takes possession of the Quaffle – she is rather a skilled Chaser and quite beautiful, perhaps she –" 

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Minnie."

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry…" Emily laughed as she heard Fred and George's best friend Lee Jordan call Professor McGonagall Minnie. Lee called all the Quidditch games and was closely monitored by Professor McGonagall to keep him in line. According to the twins it was a hard job as Lee often went off on a random tangent and wasn't the best at censoring himself.

"Johnson nearly escapes a Bludger and passes the Quaffle off to Alicia Spinnet who is in her first year as a starting Chaser— she tosses it back to Johnson – but no, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint intercepts the pass – Flint easily maneuvers his way to the hoops – and he – nope, he is stopped by the Gryffindor Captain Oliver Wood – Alicia Spinnet takes the Quaffle again tosses it to Gryffindor Chaser Katie Bell and— OOOH — that can't have been pleasant, she is hit in the head with a Bludger – Chaser Adrain Pucey of Slytherin takes the Quaffle —he is doing well, he dodges a Bludger – Oh but he can't dodge the second — that was sent by one of the Gryffindor Beaters either Fred or George Weasley, I couldn't tell you which –"

It amused Emily that she seemed to be the only one who could tell the twins apart. If she had been sitting close to Lee she would have informed him the second bludger had been hit by George.

— Bell takes the Quaffle and dodges Pucey, she tosses the Quaffle to Spinnet — there is nothing in her way now — Bludger is speeding towards her, and it misses — she is approaching the hoops — she tosses to Johnson as Pucey has caught up to her — Johnson makes her throw and Slytherin Keeper Bletchley moves to block — and he misses — TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindors broke out in cheers while the Slytherins booed. Emily who had yet to take her binoculars off Harry looked over at Draco who was booing.

"They scored?" Emily asked.

"Yes," Draco replied pushing the binoculars down so he could properly see his friend's face. "Would you watch the game? Your brother is fine, you are missing all the action."

"Something doesn't feel right Dray! I have no idea what it is but something is not ok."

"Em you are just anxious because it is your brother playing and I understand that but you are missing the game." Emily nodded to Draco but kept diverting her gaze over to Harry every minute or so.

"Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle," Lee Jordan announced, "Chaser Pucey dodges both Bludgers aimed at him and heads for the hoops — hold up Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs is starting to dive – has he seen the Snitch?"

"Harry Potter Gryffindor's newest addition and Seeker has seen it as well – he dives – they are neck and neck – Potter and Higgs both have their hands raised – Potter overtakes Higgs – and – Oh OUCH – Marcus Flint has purposefully knocked into the Gryffindor Seeker sending him spiraling off course –" The Gryffindor fans screamed in anger calling for a foul while the Slytherins cheered.

"What is he trying to do?" Emily screamed outraged at the prefect's behavior.

"Emily calm down it was a hard foul, they tend to happen in Quidditch, especially games against Gryffindor and Slytherin. He is still on his broom, you are over reacting."

"He could have killed him!"

"That's how the game is played. Plus, we are at school, no one is going to let him fall and die."

Emily shook her head frustrated but she knew Draco was right, she needed to calm down, this was all part of the game. "I'm sorry you're right I am just so on edge and seeing him almost knocked off his broom is not helping."

"So — after that blatant and revolting foul by the cheater Flint —"

"Jordan!" warned Professor McGonagall.

"After that obvious and hard hit purposefully meant to hurt…"

"JORDAN – this is your final warning…"

"Okay, okay no need to get so upset Minnie."

"JOR-"

"And Flint almost causes Gryffindor to be short a Seeker for the season which is perfectly normal and happens all the time –"

"Detention"

"Worth it – and Madam Hooch awards a penalty shot to Gryffindor – Spinnet lines up to make the goal – she easily scores – play continues with Gryffindor in possession of the Quaffle."

As Emily settled in she was starting to enjoy the game until she decided to check in on her brother and noticed Harry's broom begin to seemingly start to try and buck him off.

She looked around and no one else seemed to be taking notice of her brother. Lee was still commentating and all the players had yet to notice as he was pulled higher hanging onto his broom trying not to fall.

Emily nudged Draco hard, "I told you something was going to go wrong look at Harry!"

He sighed but humored his friend and looked to where Harry was on the field, "It looks like he has no control over his broom! How can that be possible?"

Finally, people started noticing Harry's predicament and began pointing up at him. Emily watched as the broom rolled over trying to throw him off. Squeezing Draco's arm in a death grip, Emily watched as Harry's broom gave a wild jerk as it rolled over for the third time knocking Harry off his broom. It seemed he had a good grip until a strong jerk forced the young seeker's left hand to lose its grip leaving him dangling by one hand and holding desperately to the handle.

"I told you I had a bad feeling, what can interfere with the magic of a broom?"

"I think only a Dark curse could be doing that to his broom. The person would really have to mean to harm you to make it work." Emily looked over at the one person whose loyalty she had been starting to question. His eyes were locked onto Harry. He wasn't blinking. Looking around she realized she couldn't take a clear shot from where she was without someone else accidentally getting hit.

Emily's eyes quickly went back to check on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. Everyone in the stadium were on their feet, watching, terrified that Harry might slip. Fred and George tried to fly up to Harry to pull him onto one of their brooms, but every time they got near him Harry's broom would move higher up in the air. The twins gave up trying to reach him and flew beneath him in a circle hoping to catch him if he fell. Emily was just about to get up and get a closer shot when she watched Granger scrambling by him so fast she knocked him into the first row breaking his eye contact. She seemed to be rushing toward Professor Snape.

The momentary lapse of concentration was enough, Harry's broom stopped moving and the first year was able to climb back on his broomstick immediately taking off into a dive. Emily who had just released Draco's arm grabbed his hand.

"Must you cut off my circulation, the feeling was just coming back," Draco asked the anxious girl.

"Shut up!"

Emily watched as Harry rolled off his broom and onto his knees coughing. She was certain he was going to be sick after what he had just survived, that is until he started waving something over his head. Somehow Harry was holding a tiny golden ball. Harry had caught the Snitch the game was finally over!

"Come on Em, let's head back to the common room," Draco said leading Emily out of the stands.

"I think I'm going to visit Hagrid for a bit, do you want to come?"

"I think I would rather head inside and get warm, I'll meet you in the common room later."

Hagrid approached his hut just before Emily and was happy to make her a cup of tea. The two were just sitting down when they were joined by Harry, Granger and Weasley.

Weasley seemed to be pretending Emily wasn't there and began telling the game to Harry from his point of view. "And we saw Snape cursing your broomstick! Hermione noticed it first but he was whispering something and watching you the whole time."

"Oh please," Emily said rolling her eyes at the boy. "Have you never heard of a counter curse?" But no one seemed to hear her except Hagrid who nodded his head in agreement.

"Rubbish," Hagrid exclaimed making the young Gryffindors shake their heads as if the giant was delusional. "Professor Snape would never do something like that. He's a Hogwarts teacher!"

"Well we know that he's up to something," Harry told Hagrid very matter of factly. "On Halloween he got bitten by that crazy three-headed dog in the third floor corridor. Whatever it's guarding, he's trying to steal it!"

Emily was about to interject when Hagrid dropped the teapot and asked them how they knew about Fluffy.

"Fluffy?"

"Yeah, I bought 'im last year in the pub. Been raisin' 'im ever since. Dumbledore asked to borrow him to guard the –"

"Guard the…" Harry prompted.

"No. Now stop, yeh know I can't say nothin' about it," Hagrid answered gruffly looking away from the assembled first years.

"Snape wants to steal it we have to stop him!"

Emily scoffed loudly earning a glare from Weasley. "I bet you are helping him snake."

"I'm not helping anyone, but I could help you…" Emily started to draw her wand but Hagrid was quick to push her arm back down.

"Now that's enough yeh hear! You three don' have ter do anythin' about it! Em is right, Professor Snape would never do somethin' like that."

"But he just tried to kill Harry!" cried Granger, the girl genuinely looked worried about her friend.

Emily who was trying to remain calm lost it, "Professor Snape did not just try to kill Harry, he was trying to save him! Eye contact works both ways, you need it when saying the curse and performing the counter-curse!"

"Of course you defend him! You're a slimy snake just like that greasy bat!" Weasley cried. "I think she's helping him."

Harry shook his head, he didn't think highly of his sister's House but accusing her of trying to help kill him was going too far.

"Just because I am a Slytherin doesn't make me an evil snake you idiot! Harry is my brother and I do not believe Professor Snape attempted to kill him! On Halloween night someone let the troll into the castle, but Professor Snape was at dinner the whole time he couldn't have done it! He went to head someone off, not steal something! He was protecting it like he was protecting Harry today! Do you ever think it through or are Gryffindors so brash they ignore reason?" Emily was just wasting her breath though, the three Gryffindors seemed to be ignoring everything she said.

Granger just continued on a tangent about how she had read all about jinxes and that it had to be Professor Snape because he didn't break eye contact. Emily rolled her eyes did no one hear a word she said at all? Maybe Granger wasn't as good for her brother as she originally hoped. "Did you not just hear me say the same goes for the counter-curse!"

Shaking her head Emily settled back into her chair and took a sip of her tea, it was pointless to say another word.

Hagrid, for his part had began to yell. The giant was defending Professor Snape and telling the three Gryffindors that Emily was right. The Slytherin in mention no longer caring about the other in the room was considering heading back up to the castle when she realized what Hagrid was saying.

"That is none of yer business! What Fluffly is guarding is between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. If either wanted yer help they'd ask, but I suspect they have plenty! Yeh three need to let this go and stop trying to blame Professor Snape!"

"Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Harry said excitedly, clinging onto the name Hagrid had let slip.

With that statement Emily groaned and hit her head on the table while Hagrid looked furious with himself.


	12. Mirror of Erised and Nicholas Flamel

**12**

 **The Mirror of Erised and Nicolas Flamel**

Before Emily knew it Christmas was fast approaching. About mid-December the snow had begun to blanket the ground around the castle and the lake had frozen over. Students could be seen enjoying the grounds and having snowball fights. Emily found amusement in the snowballs that Fred and George had charmed to keep bouncing off Quirrel's turban, but unfortunately for them the teachers didn't see the amusement in it and gave them detention.Luckily for the pair they were assigned to Professor Snape who, though he would never tell them, was quite impressed with their skills in brewing and had them help prep potions for the Hospital Wing.

Everyone in the school seemed ready for winter break to start. As the temperature dropped outside so did the temperature within the castle. The common rooms and Great Hall always had fires going to warm them but the stone corridors were cold and the worst was the dungeons. You could see your breath in the freezing air causing many students to grumble about having to go to potions class. Emily and Draco had taken to drinking a small amount of warming potion before each class in the dungeons. They knew if Professor Snape tried to warm the classroom it could cause problems with the often volatile potions. There was a reason all the potion labs were located in the dungeons.

"I feel horrible for the people who are not wanted at home for Christmas," Theo announced one day in potions. "I can't even imagine how it must feel! My mother and father would never hear of me not spending the holidays with them." Theo never took his eyes off of Harry.

Emily wanted to glare the boy down but she refrained herself, she knew he was just trying to get under her brother's skin. Since the Quidditch match Theo seemed to try and start fights with her brother more often. Angered that Slytherin had lost, he had taken to insulting Harry's ability to play as a Seeker, blaming the win on sheer coincidence and not skill. Emily couldn't really argue that it had been skill since her brother had appeared to swallow the ball and not catch it with his hand, so she merely remained silent on the topic.

"He caught it with his mouth," he had often joked. "What are the Gryffindors going to do next put a wide mouth tree frog on a broom instead?" His ire seemed to grow as people didn't find his jokes very funny. Everyone had grown tired of the same jokes being spouted over and over and to be honest Harry had impressed quite a few people with his ability to hang onto his broom while it tried to buck him off so high up in the air. Theo who was not pleased with Harry's spotlight, so he changed tactics and began trying to taunt him about not having a family to go home to for the holidays, hoping to start a fight.

Emily had pointed out to Theo that as Harry's sister he was insulting her as well but that had only fallen on deaf ears. Draco refused to let her hex the annoying boy anymore saying Harry could handle this on his own. Perhaps Draco was right, it wasn't like Harry and his friends even acknowledged she existed, she needed to just ignore Theo and let her twin deal with his little rivalry.

It was true however, that neither Potter twin was planning on going back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Emily and Harry had been the first in their Houses to sign up last week when the Head of Houses came around asking who would be staying in the castle for Christmas. For the first time in her life, Emily was actually excited about the upcoming holiday. She used to dread Christmas, all the chores and cooking, being trapped with the Dursleys unable to go to school for a small reprieve but now she never had to do that again.Draco who refused to leave Emily alone in the Slytherin house for Christmas had signed up to stay as well.

That day Draco and Emily held back at the end of potions to ask if they could use the potions classroom over break. If they were going to be in the castle they might as well work on their brewing skills. After it was agreed upon the pair accompanied Professor Snape up the stairs just in time to see Weasley dive at Theo.

"WEASLEY, what do you think you are doing?" Weasley dropped his hold on Theo and turned white as he realized the Potions Master was headed straight for him.

They heard Hagrid's voice come from behind a large tree that was blocking the corridor. He seemed to be saying Weasley was provoked but he wasn't clear as he climbed his away around to see the scene. With Theo's behavior lately Emily did not doubt that claim in the least but she remained silently watching off to the side.

"We still do not condone fighting in the hallways like barbarians," said Snape silkily. "I believe that will be five points from Gryffindor," seeing Weasley was about to protest he held up his hand. "Would you like to see how many more points you can lose today, Weasley?" The disgruntled red head wisely shook his head no. "Good, now I think you all have places to be."

Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle dashed from where they were standing, spreading needles from the tree everywhere in their hurry. Emily and Draco made to follow Professor Snape, who was walking around the tree, when they heard Weasley mutter something about getting back at Theo but what made all three people stop was when Harry's voice could be heard from the other side of the tree.

"I hate them," said Harry, "I hate Nott, Snape and just all the Slytherins in general. Ron's right they are slimy snakes."

Emily's head dropped and both Draco and Professor Snape were looking at her. She knew she was going to cry and refused to do it where people could see her. She quickly made for a passageway she knew close by that led to the dungeons. She ran down the passage and kept running until she reached the room that she and Draco had brewed the healing salve in. She flung the door open but hesitated when she realized the room was already occupied. Fred and George looked up from their cauldron and must have noticed her tears because they were over to her in a second. They were asking her questions but she just shook her head not hearing them. She backed up against the wall and slid down it. The twins took the spots on either side of her and waited for her to speak.

"He hates me," she finally was able to say.

"Who?" the twins chorused.

"Harry."

"He's your brother, he doesn't hate you," said Fred. "He just has our prat of a brother…"

"…giving him silly ideas about Slytherins…"

"Trust us he will come around."

"And if he doesn't?" she asked.

"WE PRANK HIM!" they exclaimed with glee.

Once the twins had gotten Emily laughing, they took the opportunity to show her their latest prank. They had been having trouble with the potion so Emily helped the pair correct the problems they were having with it before heading to the Slytherin common room.

When Emily entered the common room Draco was waiting for her by the fire. "Sorry I ran off."

"You needed a moment," Draco said pulling out a basket from the other side of his chair. "Come on picnic in my room since you missed lunch."

"Well I am starving," she answered getting up to follow him.

"I thought you might be."

Once the holidays started Emily and Draco were having too good of a time for Emily's thoughts to wander to her brother. The pair had the common room to themselves, no other Slytherins had stayed at the castle. They toasted marshmallows in the fire, they visited Professor Snape, brewed potions for fun, and played games of chess that lasted hours on end.

On Christmas Eve, Emily and Draco fell asleep in Draco's bed having been exhausted emotionally from their conversation that night. Emily had finally told Draco about her life with the Dursleys. There had been many tears and hard moments but Draco supported her and let her just get everything she needed to say out. When she had finished her story, he had expressed his outrage for his friend and promised her that he would never let her go back to her relatives. Emily didn't even care at the moment if she went back, it just felt amazing to finally be able to tell someone. When they went to sleep that night Emily was not only looking forward to Christmas but she felt less burdened than she had in a long time.

When the young Slytherins woke in the morning Emily was shocked to notice there were two piles of packages at the end of the bed.

"Merry Christmas Em," Draco yawned as he sat up.

"Merry Christmas Dray," she answered giving him a hug, she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him as a friend.

Emily and Draco pulled their piles onto the bed and began to open them. The first gift she opened was from Hagrid. It was a wooden flute that Hagrid had obviously made by hand. When she tried it out she noticed it sounded like an owl. The second thing she picked up was a note and seeing it was from her aunt and uncle immediately set it on fire.

"Didn't like the gift?" Draco asked.

"My aunt and uncle," Draco needed no further explanation and nodded his head. Next Emily opened a huge box to find clothes. Not just any clothes but designer labels she had seen in her aunt's magazines. She read the note attached and shrieked jumping onto Draco. "Dray, you and your parents didn't have to do this! This is way too much!" she was already pulling out the new outfits they had sent her and examining them. She had never had such fancy things. Draco's mom would have had to go into the Muggle world to get these.

"My mom loves shopping and she has always wanted a daughter to shop for, it looks like she had some fun. I think she sent those boots you told me about too." Emily opened the next box to find she had indeed sent her the UGG boots, in black, that she thought would be nice to have in the cold Scottish winters. After staring at the incredible gift she finally put down the boots and opened the rest of her presents. Blaise had sent her a bunch of sugar quills and a silver snake hair clasp. Marcus Flint had sent her a green Quidditch jersey that said 'Potter' on the back and had the Slytherin crest on the shoulder. The Weasley twins had sent her some of the potion she had help correct for them along with a bunch of blood pops. Draco had gotten a kick out of the twins' gift as they had a joke that Emily was secretly a vampire. The girl was quite pale, lived in the dungeons of a castle and preferred nights, classic signs you might be a vampire.

Emily having never received a gift before was overwhelmed. She had sent a few gifts but hadn't been expecting anything in return, this was more than she could have wished for.

 **ooo**

Up in the Gryffindor dorms Harry was about to open his last gift that was extremely light for its size. When he opened it a silvery, almost water like fabric cascaded from his hands onto the bed. "Wow, those are supposed to be really rare," Ron said quietly staring at the pile of fabric.

"I don't understand, what is it?" Harry asked him.

"It looks like an invisibility cloak but you will have to try it on to be sure…"

Harry didn't need to be told twice, he quickly put the cloak on when he heard Ron gasp. Looking down at his body, he found it had vanished. He ran to the mirror to see what he looked like. Of course, all he could see was his head floating seemingly without a body.

"Who sent you that?" Ron asked getting up to join his friend by the mirror.

"I don't know do you see a note anywhere?" The pair looked around until Harry finally found the piece of paper that had fallen from the gift in his haste to open it.

 _Emily and Harry_

 _This belonged to your father before he passed. It now belongs to the both you._

 _Merry Christmas to you both_. _Enjoy!_

Harry reread the note a few times before the door swung open and Fred and George Weasley came in singing a Christmas carol. Harry grabbed the cloak and hid it under his covers he wasn't ready to share it with anyone else yet.

"Happy Christmas our good chaps!"

"I see mum has sent you a Weasley sweater, Harry!" Fred and George were wearing theirs, one had an 'F' and the other a 'G'. Harry wasn't sure if they were wearing the correct sweater or not but he had a suspicion it was more the 'not' option.

"You are making a lot of noise," Percy said sticking his head into the room. He had obviously unwrapped his presents as well because he carried a sweater and on it like the others was a golden letter 'P'. "Some people are still trying to sleep, please keep it down."

"Pish posh, our dear Prefect brother! Now why aren't you wearing your sweater?"

"Put it on Percy! Even Harry is wearing his, so we all match. Don't you want to be like us dear brother?"

"I… No don't…" Fred had grabbed Percy's sweater and George held him as they forced the prefect into it.

"And don't you think for a second you are allowed to sit anywhere but with your lovely brothers today," said George. "Christmas is a time for family. Do you hear that Harry?"

"A time for _family_ ," Fred said again staring directly at the young Gryffindor before joining George to march Percy from the room.

 **ooo**

Emily selected one of her new outfits to wear for Christmas dinner, it was a black swing dress that flared out slightly when she spun in the mirror. She had accented it with green and gold ribbons in her hair and around her wrist. Dinner itself was rather enjoyable. Emily and Draco loaded their plates with roast turkey and potatoes only to cover it all in gravy, just because they could. They joked around and pulled large party crackers, they were nothing like the Muggle equivalent where you had a paper crown and a few little paper confetti. Wizard crackers had prizes ranging from chess sets to sailor hats. The evening was so jovial Dumbledore had even removed his usual pointed cap for a bonnet while Professor McGonagall could be seen giggling as she talked to Hagrid.

As the Slytherin duo stood to leave Emily heard her name called and turned to see Harry running to her. "Um – can I talk to you?" he asked. Emily nodded and followed Harry a little ways from Draco.

"Is everything ok?"

"Well, I got this gift that is kind of for both of us. It – um – is an invisibility cloak and it – well it said it was dad's."

"Are you sure?" Emily asked.

"Um yeah, and I wanted to use it but I thought maybe this first time we could use it together."

"I'd like that," Emily said excited at the prospect that maybe her brother didn't hate her as much as she thought. "When do you want to use it?"

"Um, tonight do you want to meet here at eleven?" Emily quickly agreed and went to join Draco and tell him what Harry had told her.

When it was a quarter to eleven Emily silently made her way to meet Harry. When she reached the front hall she noticed Harry was already looking for her, she quickly joined him causing him to jump.

"I have no idea how you can do that," he said while putting the cloak over the two of them.

Emily shrugged as she grabbed the end of the cloak and began to inspect it. The feeling as she ran her hand over it was amazing and the magic that radiated from it fascinated her. She wondered how old it was and how long it had been in her family if Harry was to be believed that it had belonged to their father. It wasn't until Harry cleared his throat that she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. "Where do you want to go?"

"The Restricted Section of the library."

Emily who loved books was not about to question him and quickly agreed though it certainly was an odd choice for her brother to make. For now she let it go and focused on remaining silent as they crept through the castle to reach the library.

The library was dark but Emily thought if there was a fireplace it would be the perfect place to curl up and read at night. Even though she didn't mind the dark the young witch casted a 'lumos' so they could see where they were walking, Emily wouldn't put it passed Madam Pince to set up some kind of alarm or trap to alert her of trespassers. The Restricted Section was roped off from the rest of the library and located in the very back. The twins were careful not to trip on the rope as they climbed over it. Harry pulled out a lantern and lit it so he could have a source of light as well before walkingto the opposite side of the section as Emily.

Emily felt the magic change as she entered the Restricted Section of the library. Looking to the books she could feel some had residual magic on them. The titles were hard to read as the golden letters were fading. She noticed some were written in Latin which she had started to learn at Professor Snape's prompting. She could easily understand why he had suggested it now. Spells often came from Latin words and obviously many old books were written in it.

"Harry, be careful I think there are some added magical protections to keep people out." Emily instructed her twin as she pulled out a book that she noticed was on potions and turned to Harry. "Why did you want to come here anyway? I haven't seen you with a book except Quidditch Through the Ages."

"I'm looking for Nicolas Flamel." Before Emily could tell him she thought he needed to let it go he reached for a book that was almost black in color and had a chain hanging from it. Upon opening it the entire library was filled with a loud shrieking, the book Harry had just opened was screaming.

Mere seconds later the twins heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside. They quickly put their books back on the shelves as Emily grabbed Harry making sure they were both under the cloak before running for it. Filch was standing in the doorway when they reached it with his arm outstretched holding a lantern. Emily motioned for Harry to duck. Together they slowly crept under his arm before dashing down the corridor.

They finally came to a stop and leaned against a stone wall. Neither had been paying attention to where they were going. It was like old times when they used to run away from Dudley's gang together. They both broke into smiles and were about to start laughing when they heard Filch's voice. Emily couldn't believe their luck, how on earth did the caretaker follow their exact path.

"Professor I found this in the Restricted Section, there is a student out of bed. I was told to come to you if I found anyone out after hours."

Emily looked at Harry what could he have found? Harry very quietly whispered, "lantern." She nodded that she heard, she would have to teach her brother to use 'lumos'.

They heard Professor Snape's voice next which only seemed to sour Harry's expression and mood. "They can't be too far from here. Follow me."

The twins pressed themselves as close to the wall as they could, watching as Professor Snape and Filch came into their view and made their way towards them. The hallway was narrow and neither twin wanted to accidentally trip one of them. They were invisible but they were still solid.

Emily pulled on Harry and they backed away never taking their eyes off of Filch or Professor Snape. Emily noticed that a door to their left was open and motioned to Harry who gave her a nod. They slid through the opening as quietly as they possibly could. The twins watched as Filch and Professor Snape walked right past them allowing the pair to release the breaths they had been holding. Emily turned and immediately started to take inventory of the room they were in.

She surmised they were in an unused classroom taking note of the desks that were pushed up along the wall to the left and a few piles of chairs to their right. But directly in front of them was something she didn't think belonged in the room. It seemed to have been placed there recently, as unlike the desks and chairs, there was no dust covering it. It was a gorgeous mirror mounted in an elaborate golden frame. It was almost as tall as the ceiling and was quite large. She noticed that there was an inscription that read: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi .

Emily tried to figure out what language it might be when she heard Harry gasp. She looked to him, his hand was clasped over his mouth standing directly in front of the mirror. She heard him whisper "Mum? Dad?"

She quickly made her way over to the mirror not prepared for what she saw reflected in it. A woman and a man were standing beside her. The woman looked a bit like her. Her hair was redder than hers was and she had green eyes. She was leaning into a man with unruly black hair and brown eyes. She was frozen, these people had to be her parents. She had seen a younger photo of their father in the trophy room but had never seen any pictures of her mother before. In front of her parents stood an older looking Harry who was smiling at her.

Emily noticed she looked older in the mirror and a man had his arms wrapped around her from behind. He had long dark red hair tied back at his neck. He was resting his head on hers and every so often would turn it to kiss her head. She noticed he had a fang earring hanging from one of his ears, which was a touch odd since she had yet to see a male with a piercing in the wizarding world yet. She wondered if piercings were as popular in the magical world as they were in the muggle one.

Draco stood to the side of her, he too looked older and kept smirking at her before looking over to the mirror version of her and raising an elegant eyebrow.

She tore her eyes away from the mirror to look at the inscription on the top. After staring at it for a minute she understood it was mirror language, 'I show not your face but your heart's desire'. She was seeing what she desired most, her deepest desires were shown before her in this mirror. She looked over to Harry and he had yet to move, his eyes glued to the mirror.

Suddenly a noise shocked them both and Emily grabbed Harry pulling the cloak over them as she dragged him from the room. When they reached the spot where their paths went different directions Emily pulled Harry into an alcove. She could see in his eyes he was still entranced by what he saw in the mirror.

"I know what you are thinking, you can't go back Harry."

He looked at her stunned. "How can you say that?"

"Harry…"

"It was our parents!"

"Harry, it wasn't real. Please I don't think anything good will come from going back to the mirror."

"I knew it. I shouldn't have asked you to come!"

"Harry come on, please! Just promise you won't go back there."

"I can do whatever I want. This was a mistake."

Emily felt like she had been slapped, she should have expected this. She turned and left without another word slipping into the shortcut to the dungeons. The witch kept moving until she got to Draco's room. He was awake reading a book when Emily crawled into the bed and told Draco everything that had happened.

Over the next two days Emily observed Harry fall into a deep obsession. She was worried for him. Weasley could be seen trying to engage him in different activities but Harry always seemed to wave him off. She knew the mirror wasn't healthy for him but she was unsure of what to do.

Emily decided to go for a walk through the castle to clear her mind and found herself staring out a window down onto the snow covered grounds when she was startled by a strong magical presence, she could tell it belonged to the headmaster.

"Are you ok Miss Potter," he asked stepping up next to her to look out the window as well. "You seem pensive."

She debated with herself before deciding on the truth, "Harry and I found a mirror on Christmas night."

"I see."

"He refuses to stop visiting it and… well, I fear he is losing himself in the image the mirror offers."

"And what image might that be?"

"Our parents."

"Ah," Dumbledore looked down at her, "I can understand why one who has never known their family takes comfort in seeing them."

"But it is just an image professor. It's not real, no matter how much we wish it, no magical object can bring them back to us."

"That is a very wise thing to remember but a very tough lesson to understand." Dumbledore was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, "I will make sure your brother does not dwell on the mirror. I had been planning to move the mirror tomorrow anyway. Do not worry Miss Potter." Emily didn't ask how he knew what mirror she was talking about but was glad it would soon be moved. The headmaster patted her shoulder and left down the corridor. As Emily watched him go she hoped her brother would listen to him.

Her talk with Dumbledore seemed to have been a good thing as she noticed Harry become livelier again over the following days. She was thankful he no longer appeared to be dwelling on the image from the mirror.

Soon the castle was filled with students again and the new term began. After class one day at the start of the new term Emily overheard Harry say something about Flamel to Hermione in the halls. She had completely forgotten about the man until now.

When Emily mentioned it to Draco he laughed. "You mean the alchemist?"

"I don't know, the name sounds familiar though and apparently whatever is in the school belongs to him."

"Well he is mentioned in the book I borrowed from you last week."

"Show me." Draco went over to his bookshelf and pulled out the book Emily had lent him and brought it back over to his bed flipping through it to find what he was looking for. He stopped and pointed at a section which Emily leaned forward to read. The book said that alchemy was centered on the creation of the Sorcerer's Stone. The Stone could change any metal into gold which would be reason enough for many people to want it but what caught her attention was that the Stone was known to produce something called the Elixir of Life, making the drinker immortal and the only known owner of this unique Stone was one Nicolas Flamel, who was six hundred and sixty-five years old. Emily looked up and turned to Draco, "The Stone is here, it's in Hogwarts."


	13. Norbert

**13**

 **Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback**

In the following weeks Emily noticed Professor Quirrell seemed to be getting weaker. He didn't eat much at meals and appeared paler than usual. He was even more paranoid than before if possible and his hands often had a noticeable tremor to them. He had also moved places at the Head Table. At the beginning of the year he sat next to Professor Snape but he had now traded places with Professor Flitwick and was seated on the opposite end of the table next to Professor Sinastra. According to Marcus Flint, teachers never traded seats. This of course had the rumor mill supposing that Professor Snape not only intimidated the students but even the teachers were afraid of him.

Emily didn't necessarily buy the rumors, there were just so many. They seemed constant and ever evolving especially the ones the Weasley twins passed on. One even went so far as to say the Potions Master was in fact a vampire and he had been the one to turn the DADA teacher into a blubbering mess before the year even started. If that had been the case, why was he just being moved now? No one really seemed to think things through but at least Emily had Fred and George around for a good laugh as they conveyed the latest bit of gossip to her.

The year seemed to be passing quickly. There were only ten weeks until exams and the teachers had decided it was time they started heavy review work. The homework load was increased but Emily hardly noticed it. For the Easter holiday Narcissa had sent a box of sweets and chocolate eggs. She also had sent a formal letter inviting Emily to stay with the Malfoys for the summer holidays even saying her brother was welcome in their home as well. Emily knew that was Draco's doing, he understood Emily didn't want to leave her brother alone at the Dursleys but there was no way she was going back even if Harry refused to join them.

Emily was heading to the library one day when she nearly ran into Hagrid as he was leaving it. She found it odd that he hadn't even recognized her as he blurted out an 'excuse me' before continuing on his way. The witch was curious as to why Hagrid would be in the library, she watched as the giant nervously looked around him as he reached the staircase. Deciding to catch up to Hagrid to see if everything was alright, Emily made to follow the man. It took her a bit to catch up due to a few of the moving staircases but she finally caught up to him as he was walking out of the front doors towards his hut.

"Hey Hagrid!" she called trying to hide the fact that she was breathing a bit harder from her attempt to keep up.

"Oh hey Em, how yeh been?" As the giant smile down at her Emily could see dark circles under his eyes. The man looked tired, even his smile didn't reach his eyes like it usually did.

"I'm okay. How are you, you look a bit tired. Is there something I can help you with?"

Hagrid seemed to be thinking hard before deciding to answering her, "Could yeh brew me a coolin' potion? I know yer good with those and me huts a bit hot righ' now."

She nodded and followed Hagrid back down to his hut. He hadn't been joking his house was boiling.

As Emily set about making the potion she cast a temporary cooling charm in a corner of the hut. It wouldn't last long but it would give her just enough time to brew without her potion exploding all over her.

"Hagrid do you mind telling me why it's so hot in here?" She watched as his eyes flicked to the fire. She looked over there and noticed a huge black egg in the flames. "Oh Hagrid, you didn't."

"I won it las' night, down in the village."

"Hagrid."

"What? It's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare yeh know, I couldn't say no ter a prize like that."

"It's a dragon."

"I know."

Shaking her head Emily let the topic go as she finished the potion. When she was done she ladled the potion into a few bottles and cleaned up her mess. "Okay, you are going to have to drink at least two at a time and they should last a few hours."

"Thanks Em."

"Anytime Hagrid, I will be by over the next few days to make sure you have enough," she paused for a moment. "Hagrid by law you can have that egg until it is safe to be moved. I know you really want a dragon but maybe you could consider sending him to a reserve when he gets a little larger."

"I wan' ter try and raise 'im first," the giant answered looking longingly back at the fire.

"Okay, well, just think about it and take the potion, this heat can't be good for you for long periods." Emily left the hut and made her way back up to the school. She passed Harry and his friends on her way but they didn't even seem to notice her they were in such a hurry. What was is with people not even seeing her today, usually Weasley at least had an insult for her. Shaking her head she decided to go to the library again to pick up the book she had been intending to check out before she was sidetracked.

Emily continued to bring Hagrid the potions, each time she wanted to say something to the giant but held her tongue. She figured it wouldn't take long once the dragon hatched for Hagrid to realize his house was not suitable for a such a large and dangerous creature. But as the days wore on Emily started to wonder if the egg would ever hatch until one morning at breakfast when Apollo dropped a note on her plate.

 _It's hatching._

"Hey Dray, can you cover for me in History if Binns somehow realizes I'm missing?"

"Um sure, but why?" She passed him the note she had received. He nodded in understanding.

"Thanks, you're the best," she said getting up to head to Hagrid's.

"I already knew that," he called after her.

Emily and Hagrid spent the morning talking and watching the egg begin to crack. It was almost out when there was a knock on the door. Hagrid got up to answer it and Harry and his friends were soon joining Emily by the egg. All of a sudden the scratching noise that the egg had been making all morning stopped and the shell broke open.

The baby dragon was cute. Emily could see why people revered these creatures. Its spiny wings were quite large and it had orange beady eyes. When the dragon sneezed, he released small sparks from his snout, one day those sparks would be fire. Hagrid kept saying how beautiful he was over and over. He made faces at the dragon and wiggled his large finger at him, Emily thought it looked cute yes but not that cute.

When Hagrid attempted to touch the dragon it snapped at his fingers which only seemed to make Hagrid happier declaring he knew who his 'mommy' was. Emily looked at Hagrid as if he had lost his mind, mommy? Hagrid didn't notice though, he was in his own world until Granger broke it asking how fast dragons grow. To Emily's knowledge a Norwegian Ridgeback would grow quite quickly. Hagrid opened his mouth to comment but something caught his eye and made him move to look out the window.

"Hagrid is something wrong?" Emily asked.

"Someone was lookin' into me hut through the window. I can't tell who it is. He's runnin' back ter the castle pretty fast." Emily moved to the door and knew who it was at once. Theo now knew about the dragon.

Emily stopped by to see Hagrid every day after the hatching, urging the giant to send the dragon to a reserve. Finally, one of the days during her visit Hagrid told Emily that Harry had written to Charlie, one of Weasley's older brothers who worked at the dragon reserve in Romania. They hadn't heard back yet but they were hopeful he would agree to take on Norbert.

It wasn't until Thursday that Emily received a note at breakfast.

 _Charlie said yes, he leaves Saturday at midnight from the Astronomy Tower._

 _Hagrid_

She passed the note to Draco who looked relieved. "I'm glad that it is getting moved."

"I know, Theo seems quite happy lately. I just don't want him to have a reason to get Harry in trouble."

"He could get you in trouble too for helping," Draco pointed out.

"Yeah but he is too scared of me to attack me directly."

"I don't know that it's fear. I think it's more respect and the fact that you are living with me." It was now a well-known fact throughout Slytherin that the House of Malfoy would be taking in the witch.

"Whatever it is, he still won't come after me directly."

"Just be careful, Em."The girl merely nodded in acknowledgment of her best friend's worry as she continued to enjoy her breakfast.

The night Norbert was being moved Emily was unsure why Theo stayed up in the common room later than he usually did. The boy was usually back in his dorm by 10 but tonight he seemed to be playing chess with an upper classman. She supposed she was just a touch over thinking things as she knew what was happening in the castle that night. At eleven fifteen Emily slipped out of the common room and went to wait on the astronomy tower to help the others. She had heard Weasley had been in the hospital wing due to being bitten and couldn't help so she figured she would take his place.

Emily turned when she heard Granger's voice say that Malfoy had detention. The two Gryffindors stopped when they noticed Emily was waiting for them, it was a few moments of staring at each other before the silence was broken.

"What are you doing up here! Your best friend just tried to get us in trouble!" Harry exclaimed clearly not pleased to see his twin.

"What are you talking about? Draco knows I'm up here, he wouldn't try to set you up!"

"Well he did and we just watched McGonagall give him detention."

"Harry do we really have to fight?" Emily asked trying to change the topic she could figure out what was going on with Draco when she made it back to the common room. Looking over she noticed Granger looked rather uncomfortable. "Granger," she nodded acknowledging the girl.

The other witch waved at her with a tentative smile. Harry rolled his eyes at the exchange and moved to wait by the edge of the tower. The trio waited in silence until Charlie's friends got there. His friends were an entertaining lot who all worked together to get Norbert hooked into the harness they had rigged to their broomsticks to suspend the dragon while they were flying. Shaking hands goodbye the odd group took off with Norbert into the night. Emily, Harry and Granger waited to move until they were completely out of sight. Norbert was gone.

Harry grabbed for his friend and made to drag her down the tower.

"Harry wait!" Emily called out to her brother, surprisingly he stopped to look at her. "Are you still mad at me about the mirror?"

"It's not the mirror, I just don't think I know you anymore. You're a Slytherin, I'm a Gryffindor. There is a fine line there and not to mention your best friend just tried to get us in trouble so yeah I'm a bit mad at you." Granger didn't look pleased by her companion's words and mouthed 'sorry' to Emily but let Harry lead her down the staircase.

Emily walked to the middle of the tower and sat down staring out into the darkness, her eyes drifting to the stars every now and then. She didn't know how long she was sitting there when she felt a familiar magical signature. Turning she watched as Professor Snape stepped out into the cold air to join her before returning her focus back to stare out at the grounds. He approached her and without a word took the spot next to her. The pair sat in complete silence for a few minutes before the Professor spoke.

"Draco was worried about you."

"I'm fine."

"I see. You know I have just been told an interesting tale by Minerva who brought a disgruntled Draco to me. Maybe you would like to tell me about it."

"Hagrid had a dragon, now he doesn't."

"Very well and is there a reason for your tears..." Emily reached up and touched her cheek she hadn't even realized she was crying.

"I guess I have just realized that my brother is never going to accept me. To him I am just another snake. Not to mention he is sure you are trying to kill him so that doesn't help his outlook on our House."

"And why would I wish Mr. Potter dead?"

"I have no idea. He saw you go to protect the third floor on Halloween and then Granger noticed you performing the counter-curse on his broom during the first match. Thank you for that by the way."

"And how are you sure I was performing the counter-curse?"

"I have never trusted adults. They let you down a lot and they lie to you. But you have never lied to me and you have always helped Draco and me. Your magic is comforting, it tells me you won't harm me."

"My magic?" he asked raising his eyebrow at her.

"I can feel it. I can feel everyone's, the first night here it hit me like a wave. The castle's is strongest, it' feels alive."

"That is very impressive." They sat in silence for a few more minutes until Professor Snape stood up and extended his hand to her. On their walk back to the dungeons Professor Snape spoke with a slight smirk, "You will have to be punished for being out after hours and making me come find you." There was a hint of amusement in his voice that made Emily smile at the man.

"Can I just serve whatever detention McGonagall gives Draco?"

"Of course, I will let her know you will be joining him. Goodnight Emily."

"Goodnight Professor." When Emily entered the common room it was to find a frantic Draco wondering how she was. She told him everything that happened. In turn he told her that Theo had tipped off Filch and he had been trying to find her when McGonagall found him instead. She briefly wondered about her brother but decided it wasn't her problem. Emily informed Draco Professor Snape had found her and she would be serving detention with him. That night Emily was too exhausted to think anything other than thanking Merlin tomorrow was a Sunday and she could sleep in.


	14. The Forbidden Forest

**14**

 **The Forbidden Forest**

The next morning when Emily entered the Great Hall for breakfast she noticed that the Gryffindor table seemed upset. People were whispering to each other and glaring over at the hourglasses that recorded the House points. She took her seat next to Draco who as usual was across from Marcus Flint.

"What's going on with the Gryffs?" she asked reaching for her morning coffee.

"They lost one hundred and fifty points last night."

Emily did a double take. She turned to look back at the hourglass and realized that they had indeed lost points, their glass far emptier now than the other three. Turning her attention to the Gryffindor table, she noticed that people were glaring at her brother and his friends. She was hoping it wasn't what she thought it was. Hadn't he had the cloak with him? "Exactly how do you lose one hundred and fifty points in one night?" she asked looking back to Flint.

"Apparently McGonagall took the points from her House herself when three first years were found out of bed last night."

"Why would she do that?"

"No idea, but I do know that we are now guaranteed the House Cup this year."

As the day continued it became clear the Slytherins were the only people who were happy with Gryffindor's loss. It turns out the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had been hoping the Gryffindors would beat Slytherin, breaking their winning streak. Now that there was no hope of that, they too had turned against the three first years that had lost the points. Emily found out that not only had her brother and Granger been caught but also Longbottom had been found with them. The three first years were being treated horribly. People insulted them as they walked through the halls and sat far away from them at meal times.

The Slytherins had taken to applauding the small group and while Emily considered hexing a few of them she remembered her brother's words from the night on the tower and decided to let it be. The Slytherins, for the most part, were quick to let the incident go and returned to their normal behaviors of ignoring the other Houses in the halls. Emily had been disappointed however in the Weasley twins. She had been working with them on a new potion when she heard them refer to her brother as 'the Seeker'. Apparently even they had black listed her brother, which was serious business since the pair had lost their fair share of points over the years.

"But we don't get caught," Fred corrected Emily when she had pointed out that small fact to the twins.

"Everyone knows a Weasley prank," Emily countered.

"Of course they do, but they can't prove it was us."

George nodded in agreement with his brother, "The points we lose are for small things since they can't get us for anything else."

"You can't tell me you have never been caught."

"Once."

"First year."

"We lost 20 points."

"Each?"

"Total," the duo chorused earning a sigh from Emily as she turned her attention back to her brewing.

 **ooo**

"Dray, does Quirrell seem to be getting worse to you?"

Draco looked over at the man who was attempting to tell them about their exam that was only a week away. Instead of saying anything he was sweating and kept dropping what he was holding before giving up and just telling them to review. "I think he is muttering to himself," he whispered back.

Emily watched as the man moved his lips ever so slightly, he did indeed look to be mumbling to himself. Suddenly he looked at her and they locked eyes. Her shoulder exploded in pain, which quickly started to travel through her body. She forced herself to maintain eye contact until the professor finally diverted his gaze.

"I just have this bad feeling… and a headache," she reached into her bag looking for her headache potion and realized she had run out. "Maybe we can stop by Professor Snape's office and see if he has a headache cure after class, I'm out." Rolling her shoulder Emily moved her hand to rub it slightly, "And a pain potion."

"Is it still bothering you?" Draco looked worriedly at his friend.

"It's no big deal, I could have pulled it carrying all our books."

Draco looked like he didn't believe her but he nodded his head anyway in agreement before starting back in on his revision.

The next morning at breakfast Emily and Draco each received a note from Professor McGonagall informing them that they would be serving detention later in the evening. The pair were to meet Filch in the Entrance Hall no later than eleven o'clock.

"Bit ironic," Draco mumbled before taking a sip of his tea.

Emily nodded her head in agreement, it was a bit strange but the young witch preferred the night anyway. The one thing she was not looking forward to was being with the cantankerous caretaker, that was punishment enough.

Emily and Draco met Filch in the entrance hall at eleven and were told that they were waiting on a few more students. The students they were waiting for turned out to be Harry, Granger and Longbottom. Harry refused to meet her eyes but surprisingly Granger smiled at her.

"No time for hellos," the old man barked. "We have a job to do, follow me," he instructed as he lit a lantern to lead them out of the front doors. He began to ramble about pain and hard work being good punishments for students and wishing he could hang students from the ceiling with the chains he oiled daily hoping he could use them one day soon. He seemed to think he was scaring them but Emily couldn't stop her eye roll. His attempt to scare them was pointless, as long as Dumbledore was the headmaster the most he could do was make the students clean the chains in his office not hang them from there. She looked at the others and they seemed to be taking Filch more seriously.

Emily noticed Filch was leading them from the school towards Hagrid's hut. Emily was curious, if they were going to be serving detention with Hagrid what could they possibly help him with at eleven o'clock at night? Harry looked relieved which Filch seemed to notice immediately.

"If you think you'll be having a good time with the oaf you're wrong. You're all going into the forest tonight. And you'll be lucky if you come back in one piece." Did this man have nothing better to do then try and scare children? She couldn't take him seriously but the others did. She noticed Longbottom let out a bit of a squeak and Draco stopped walking.

"The _forbidden_ forest?" he said. Emily had a strong urge to tell him to buck up. "But students are not allowed in the forest – there are werewolves and all sorts of creatures in there."

Longbottom seemed to be choking as he held onto Harry for dear life. Emily wanted to point out that it was not a full moon tonight and she highly doubted there were any humans in the forest waiting to jump out and bite them.

"Not my problem boy," snarked Filch, "Maybe if you had thought of this beforehand you wouldn't be worrying about them werewolves."

Emily groaned this man was a broken record. Hagrid chose that moment to join the group, with a crossbow in his hand. "What took yeh so long I've been waitin' fer half an' hour?" Hagrid looked at Emily who slyly pointed her thumb at Filch before making a talking motion and he nodded in understanding.

"Remember you aren't their friend Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they are being punished."

"Why don' yeh head on back, I got 'em from here." Filch glared at them saying he would collect them at dawn before turning around and heading back up to the school.

Draco watched Filch leave and he turned back to the others. He refused to go into the forest and Emily had to roll her eyes at her best friend. Now was not the time to play the prissy heir.

"Yeah, yeh will be," Hagrid told him sternly. "If yeh wan' ter stay here, yeh got ter go into the forest with the others."

"This is not a task for students. We should be doing lines not going into the forbidden forest, if my father knew about this —" Emily nudged him in the side to silence him.

"—he'd say that yeh have ter do as yer told," Hagrid growled.

Hagrid took Draco's silence as acceptance and he led them to where a dirt path led into the forest, disappearing into the dark trees before them. Hagrid bent down and dipped his finger into a silvery substance pooled to the side. He held out his finger so all the first years could get a better look.

"This here is unicorn blood," he told them. "I already found one dead last week and it looks like another's been hurt by summat and it's our job ter go and find it."

"You think it is safe, for us to go into the forest when something is killing unicorns?" Draco said in disbelief.

"Nothin' that lives in the forest will hurt yeh as long as me or Fang are there," Hagrid responded proudly but Emily had to agree with Draco on this one, if something was killing unicorns perhaps it wasn't the best idea to venture into the forest.

"It'll be alright," the giant announced obviously noticing the unease of the group before clearing his throat and pointing down the path. "The trail heads off into two directions. We're goin' ter have ter split up since the blood is on both paths."

Draco misjudging Fang's ability to be ferocious when needed requested to take him. Hagrid agreed but Draco paled even more when he was informed that Fang was a coward. Emily, Harry and Granger would be going with Hagrid while Draco was with Fang and Longbottom. Hagrid told them that if they found the unicorn they were to send up green sparks so the other group could meet up with them. He had them practice a few times before they entered the forest and separated into their groups.

"Do you think its werewolves killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.

"They aren't fast enough," Emily answered for Hagrid. "Unicorns are one of the fastest creatures in the forest, a werewolf doesn't have the speed to come close to one."

"Em is righ', I've never known a unicorn ter be hurt, let alone be killed before," Hagrid said motioning for the group to be quiet as he inspected the path.

As they walked they noticed blood scattered but not enough for Emily to think their group was headed in the correct direction. She glanced at Harry who was trying to comfort his friend Granger, the poor girl's face was extremely pale. Hagrid noticing the witch's state asked if she was ok but quickly yelled at all of them to move behind a tree.

Hagrid pushed the three first years behind him before they could attempt to move. They were all silent, listening intently. Emily swore she could hear something that sounded like a cloak dragging on the ground and twigs snapping under someone's feet. The sound faded after a few seconds of silence.

"I don' like this," Hagrid whispered.

"Is it a werewolf?" Harry asked looking around them into the trees.

"Harry would you look at the moon, it isn't full tonight," Emily said pointing up at the sky. "The werewolves aren't even werewolves tonight. They are probably at home in bed like every other human being, so stop asking about them."

Harry smiled sheepishly at the others, following Hagrid as they moved closer to a clearing ahead of them. Hearing a sound Hagrid called for whoever it was to show themselves and into the clearing stepped a centaur. He had red hair and his body was a chestnut color. Hagrid seemed to know him and called him Ronan.

"Well met Hagrid. Were you going to harm me?" Ronan asked tilting his head as he examined the crossbow in the giant's hand.

"Sorry, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. "Not sure what is in the forest righ' now."

"You and your companions are."

"Righ', this is Emily an' Harry Potter an' Hermione Granger. Yeh three, this here is Ronan."

"Good evening," Ronan said acknowledging the first years. "You are students then? Are you learning much?"

All Harry and Granger could do was nod their heads. Emily barely heard Granger's whispered 'a bit'.

The centaur seemed distracted and didn't even notice the lack of an answer to his question as he stared up to the sky and commented on the brightness of Mars. Emily felt he was trying to imply something and thought about his statement focusing on Mars. Weren't centaurs supposed to predict the future based on their readings of the sky or was she just so on edge being in the forest that she was overthinking things.

"Sure," replied Hagrid, glancing up at the sky too. "Have yeh seen anythin' odd in the forest by chance? There's a hurt unicorn, found one dead las' week and we need to find what's doin' it."

It took Ronan a moment before he replied. He gave a big sigh before looking at them, "It's always the innocent who are the first to fall. It's a shame history repeats itself. If only people would listen." Emily was starting to get the idea she wasn't over things and was getting unsettled at the Centaur's implications but looking at the others they just seemed confused.

"Okay," said Hagrid, "but do yeh know anythin' about what's been hurtin' the unicorns?"

Again Ronan looked back up to the night's sky seemingly ignoring the giant's question, "Mars grows ever brighter."

"You mean that it approaches soon then?" Emily finally asked, deciding she needed to know if the forest was merely getting the better of her.

"It has already begun, child of prophecy."

Just then a black-haired centaur emerged from the trees, while the others were looking at Emily as if she had grown a second head. Hagrid turned and upon noticing the new centaur, he greeted him calling him Bane.

"You scared us," Hagrid admitted patting his chest.

"You have brought children into the forest?" came the reply. Bane didn't look very happy at the idea of the first years being present.

"Well they are helpin' me look fer the unicorn that has been hurt. Have you seen anythin' or know where the poor thing is?"

Bane just looked skyward and stepped up alongside Ronan, "It grows ever brighter."

Hagrid seemed annoyed and bid Ronan and Bane goodbye. The three first years followed him out of the clearing and back onto the dark path. Emily swore she heard a cloak again but this time she had a strong feeling of being watched. Whatever it was though she couldn't figure out because they were far enough away that she couldn't feel its magical signature.

They were just passing a bend when they noticed some red sparks in the air, Emily immediately was worried about Draco. Hagrid told them to wait where they were and took off in the direction that they had seen the sparks come from.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Granger as she held on tighter to Harry.

Emily listened as her brother told Hermione he didn't care if Draco had been hurt he just hoped Longbottom was okay. Emily had an urge to punch her brother. How rude can you be? He could care less if the Slytherin was hurt but if the Gryffindor was then he could feel compassion.

When Hagrid returned he seemed to be angry, Draco looked upset as well and Longbottom seemed to be fearful. Hagrid told them that Draco had grabbed Longbottom as a joke causing him to set off the sparks out of fear. Draco was trying to explain that he had heard something and tugged the other boy's arm to ask if he had heard it as well, but his explanation fell on deaf ears. Obviously, Harry was not the only person there that thought the worst of Slytherins, Hagrid did too.

"We're changing groups," Hagrid announced. "Neville you are stayin' with me an' Hermione. Draco you go with the twins an' Fang."

For the next half hour the three walked deeper into the forest. Harry seemed to be upset he was with them and Draco was angry Hagrid hadn't listened to him. Annoyed that both boys were behaving poorly Emily focused on what they were supposed to be doing, finding the wounded unicorn. She noticed the blood getting thicker and then she saw it. Looking up as Harry and Draco took to move toward the dead unicorn, she grabbed them roughly pulling them both behind her feeling the familiar magical signatures that were not friendly.

"What are you doing?" Harry hissed but Emily motioned him to be quiet.

A hooded figure crawled out of the darkness towards the unicorn, lowering its head it began to drink. Emily got the idea that the being knew they were being watched.

Seeing the sight, Draco screamed and took off running with Fang not far behind him. Harry seemed frozen behind Emily. The figure rose to its feet and began to advance on the twins, a shimmer of silver blood the only thing visible in the black distortion of the face. Clearly the being was using a strong concealment charm. The pain in Emily's shoulder was unlike any pain she had felt before, it quickly traveled through her until she felt like her head and chest were being split open. Harry fell to his knees grasping at his own forehead while instinctively Emily forced herself to ignore the pain and moved to block Harry from the figure completely. She felt relief flood her as she heard hooves shortly followed by something that came jumping through the air into the clearing landing just in front of her. The figure turned and left quickly at the arrival of what Emily realized was a centaur. Turning she helped Harry to his feet.

"Are you both unhurt?" the centaur asked.

"We're fine, thank you," Emily replied.

"What was that?" Harry was looking in the direction the figure had fled.

"You are the child of prophecy," he responded dismissing the question and looking at Emily. "Climb on my back. We need to get you away from here."

"What is your name?" Emily asked him as he lowered himself for the pair to climb on his back. Before he could answer they were suddenly joined in the clearing by Ronan and Bane.

"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "How can you let the humans ride you? Are you a common mule?"

Ronan placed a hand on Bane, "That is the girl of prophecy, her eyes are open and she hears us. Allow Firenze to take them to safety. We both know she should not be in here. No child should." Bane didn't look happy with the suggestion and pawed at the ground before turning and galloping out of site. "Be quick Firenze, Mars is bright, you know what you risk." With that Ronan turned following after where Bane had disappeared into the dark trees.

Firenze immediately took off running through the trees. It was obvious Harry was confused.

"What was that in the clearing back there? What are you risking?" Harry rapidly asked.

Firenze slowed his pace but did not answer yet. When they reached a dense grouping of trees Firenze stopped and asked Harry if he knew what unicorn blood was used for. Harry replied in the negative.

Emily paled, "It is used to sustain life. No matter how close to death you may be it will keep you alive. It is said to be a great offense to nature to partake in the properties without a willing sacrifice."

"That is correct, it is a terrible crime to kill a unicorn. Without it offering a sacrifice, you have slain something so pure to save your own life you will lead a cursed life."

Harry seemed to not understand and asked Firenze who could be that desperate when surely death was better than a lifetime that is cursed. "Indeed death would be better," Firenze answered. "But for someone who only needs it until they can reach something else. Something that once drunk would give the person full power and strength again. Something that would grant the drinker immortality."

It clicked for Emily at that moment, everything fell into place. Harry and Firenze were still talking but her mind was elsewhere... the centaur's warnings, the pain in her scar, the magic she recognized as being hostile towards her, it all made perfect sense. She was broken from her thoughts by Draco. "Em! Em, oh I'm so sorry I ran! Are you ok?" her friend was frantic with fear.

"We are fine," she said as she and Harry climbed off Firenze's back. "Thank you, Firenze."

"Of course, child of prophecy. Be safe and head our warning, do not forget how brightly Mars is beginning to shine," he bowed his head to her before running off into the forest.

Later when Emily and Draco entered the common room, the Slytherin first years went straight to the blonde's room, both putting on their pajamas and crawling into the bed. Propping themselves up against the headboard they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Draco finally asked. "Why did he call you child of prophecy?"

"I don't know, I can only guess as to why all the centaurs referred to me as that but what I am certain of is he wants the stone."

"Who?"

"Voldemort, that is the hostile magic I have been feeling."

"What are you talking about, I think we would know if he was in the school, Em."

"Firenze hinted that the figure was Voldemort and the magic felt the same. And you heard all the centaurs, they kept saying Mars was bright!"

"I don't understand."

"Draco what was Mars the god of?"

"War… Oh."

"Yeah, they said Mars was bright and the innocents are always the first casualties."

"So war is close then and innocent people are going to die."

Emily nodded, "Voldemort wants the stone. He is drinking the unicorn blood to keep himself alive. If he had the stone he would be strong again. The year is almost up Dray, he will have to make his move soon..." After sitting together in silence for a while they both moved to lie down under the covers. Draco reached over and took Emily's hand as they fell asleep, both worried about the days ahead.


	15. Through the Trap Door

**15**

 **Through the Trap Door**

Exam week had not been easy on Emily. She was constantly on edge waiting for Voldemort to make his move. Each day that passed her unease increased. As if her worry wasn't enough, the heat was unbearable. She and Draco found themselves taking cooling potions so as not to be too uncomfortable sitting their exams in the sweltering heat of the classrooms. For their written exams everyone was given an Anti-Cheating quill, which was obviously spelled to stop students from cheating. The practical exams had been fun for Emily and a nice distraction while they lasted. For Charms she was to make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. Professor Flitwick had been very enthusiastic when she gave her pineapple a black bowtie and top hat to dress him for his performance, a few bonus points never hurt.

Professor McGonagall had given her a mouse to turn into a snuffbox. The nicer your box the more points you were given. Emily had created a silver box; on the top was a snake that made an oval. The eyes of the snake were green gems and inside the oval made by the snake was an ornate letter 'E' encrusted with the same green gems as the snake's eyes. The sides of the box had diamond shapes etched into them with the initials 'EP' inside various diamonds.

Emily had to control her laughter at the irony when Professor Snape announced they would be brewing the Forgetfulness potion. As always in her potion making, the young witch was quick and efficient. The same could not be said for her brother whose potion was a few shades to light and had an odd smoke coming from it.

Headache potions were all that were keeping Emily on her feet as the week progressed. Her scar now constantly ached, causing her head to hurt and her heart to race. It even made it hard to sleep at night. Draco worried about her lack of sleep and had gone to his godfather for a dreamless sleep potion. Both Emily and Draco were relieved when they laid down their quills at the end of their final exam for the week.

The pair had the next week free to enjoy as they liked until their exam results were released. Emily had decided to spend some time visiting Hagrid and made her way down to his hut passing the Weasley twins, who were busy tickling the tentacles of the giant squid that lived in the lake.

"Hey Hagrid," Emily called to the man who was sitting in a chair outside of his hut.

"Em! How did yer exams go?"

"They went well. I enjoyed the practical exams more than the written, but I think that is a given for everyone."

Hagrid was about to reply when something caught his eye and he called out, "Hullo." Emily turned to see her brother, Granger and Weasley heading towards them. "Yeh three finished yer exams as well? Got time fer a drink with Em an' I perhaps?"

Weasley who looked out of breath began to say he would but Harry was quick to cut him off.

"No, we can't stay long, we just wanted to ask you something. When you won Norbert did you get a look at the man who gave you the dragon egg?"

At once Emily had an idea of where her brother might be going with this.

"He never took off his hood," Hagrid replied. That made sense Emily thought, who would willingly show their face if they had an illegal dragon egg. But Harry seemed stunned as did his friends, that Hagrid didn't find it odd that the person hadn't revealed themselves. "I was at the Hog's Head and it's not unusual, lots o' people don' take off their hoods there. I supposed he was a dragon dealer. He seemed ter know a lot abou' 'em. Nice bloke, he just kept buyin' me drinks while we talked."

Hagrid was way too trusting. A dragon dealer doesn't just show up and gamble away the only egg he just happens to have with him. Not only that, but a rare egg he could have sold for way more than he could earn by gambling with Hagrid. No this man had known Hagrid had always wanted a dragon and had used it against him. Offering him drinks to loosen his tongue.

"Did he ask you a lot of questions? Maybe he brought up Hogwarts…"

"We talked about Hogwarts," said Hagrid nodding his head. "He wanted ter know what I did fer a livin'. We talked 'bout me wantin' a dragon since I was a young lad and he said he had one. That he'd play me fer it if I liked. I wasn' 'bout ter turn that down. He wanted to know what kind o' creatures I looked after and I told 'im 'bout Fluffy."

"Did he ask you many questions about Fluffy?" Harry asked, calmly.

"O' course he did! Not many o' those around anymore. He wanted ter know how I calmed him, yeh see if I was ter have a dragon I needed to be able to control a large animal. So I told 'im you just gotta play some music and Fluffy falls asleep."

Hagrid's eyes widened as he realized what he had just told them. Harry, Granger and Weasley ran off towards the school without even a goodbye to Hagrid. Emily connected the dots as well. The stranger had played Hagrid right into his hand by offering a dragon in exchange for how to get past the Cerberus without dying.

Emily turned to Hagrid with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry Hagrid but I need to catch up to them."

She waved goodbye as she ran after her brother. When she caught up to the Gryffindors she immediately sunk back into the shadows, they were already talking to Professor McGonagall. From what she gathered Dumbledore had left the school on urgent business for the ministry and instead of heeding Harry's warning that the Sorcerer's Stone was in danger, she blew them off, telling them it was perfectly safe and to go on about their day.

Emily knew without a doubt tonight was the night and she knew her brother would attempt to save the stone now that he had worked out all the pieces. She was about to go to her common room when she heard Professor Snape's voice and stayed put. When Professor Snape went off in the direction of the staffroom Emily left the shadows and snuck behind her brother and his friends to duck into a passageway that led to the dungeons without any of them the wiser.

When she entered the common room she noticed Draco was playing a game of chess against Blaise. She moved to sit next to him, her body unable to relax she sat rather stiffly which earned her an odd look from Blaise.

"Hey Em," Draco said his eyes still on the game. "That was a short visit."

"That's because my brother showed up."

"Ah, give me one second… check mate."

Blaise groaned leaning back into his chair, "It would be nice to win just one game."

"Maybe next time," Draco said standing from his chair. He put out his hand for Emily to take and the pair headed to his room and quickly settled in. Draco could tell Emily had something to tell him so he waited for her to start.

"Dray he is making his move, tonight."

"How do you know?" Emily proceeded to tell him everything she had heard, from Harry showing up at Hagrid's to Professor McGonagall telling Harry Dumbledore would not be in the castle that night.

"You know what I have to do," Emily finished.

"I don't know if you have to but I know what you will do," he answered looking anything but pleased. "Just please, be careful and do remember you're a Slytherin. None of that blind Gryff bravery that gets someone hurt alright?"

"Don't worry so much, I'm just going to try and stop them. Nothing more."

That night as the common room slowly emptied Emily slipped out making her way using the hidden passages and shadows to get to the third floor corridor. She passed Peeves at one point who stopped her to let her know her brother had just left his own dorms. It was useful having an understanding with the school's poltergeist.

Emily showed herself as her brother, Granger and Weasley approached the door that led to Fluffy.

Weasley was the first to notice her. "What are you doing here snake?" The other two turned quickly to see who had joined them, both looking hesitant at the new addition.

"I am making sure none of you die," she countered motioning him to be silent. At Emily's mention of death Weasley shut his mouth, his companions remained quiet as well. "You really can't think the three of you are going to protect the stone."

"We have to try," Harry insisted. "Dumbledore is gone. If we do nothing…"

"You're first years, what chance do you have? You all should go back to your rooms, I'm sure Dumbledore has set enough traps to keep it protected."

"We're going down there," Harry said crossing his arms.

" _Your blind bravery could get you killed!"_ his twin hissed at him. Granger and Weasley took a step back at her words though Harry just shrugged.

"We have to try."

Sighing Emily shook her head, there was no way she was letting her brother go down there with Weasley as back up. "Fine, then I'm joining you."

Emily looked at Granger and Weasley waiting for them to protest when they didn't say anything she moved to open the door slowly. Noticing a harp in the corner she pointed her wand at it, whispering a charm at it to play. The Cerberus slowly began to fall asleep as the music filled the room and Emily took a moment to applaud herself, she had looked up the spell just in case but had no time to practice. Despite what some people thought she spent a lot of time in her room practicing spells and getting used to the way they felt to cast. Pushing the door all the way open Emily allowed the others to follow her in.

"Okay we need to open the trap door." Emily instructed receiving nods.

"If one of you opens it I can look inside to see what it leads to." Harry said motioning Weasley to open the door. As he pulled it open the boy sank to his knees and cast a lumos with his wand. Emily was impressed with her twin, clearly he had learned from the lantern accident back at Christmas. "It looks like a plant, I'm not sure though."

"Plants can be harmful," Emily pondered earning a nod from Granger. "I think the best thing to do is once you land on it, move as quickly as you can to get off of it."

Weasley rolled his eyes at her but Harry and Granger who were taking this seriously nodded in agreement. Emily offered to go first and lowered herself until she had to let go, allowing herself to drop down she quickly moved off the plant once she hit it. She was followed shortly by Harry and Granger who did exactly as she had told them. Weasley on the other hand landed and took his time.

"I don't know why you were worried," Weasley said not making a move to stand.

"We had reason to be worried!" Granger yelled pointing at the redhead. "Look at you!"

Weasley's legs were already bound tightly by the plant and it was winding further up his body. He immediately began to struggle against the vines.

"Stop moving! It's Devil's Snare!" Emily called out realizing what the plant was now they were so close to it.

"Oh, I'm so glad you know what it's called snake! That's a huge help!"

"Ron!" Granger reprimanded the boy. "If you paid attention in herbology you would know that she's right. Stop fighting it!"

Emily took a deep breath to calm herself aiming her wand above the plant rather than at the obnoxious red head as she would have liked. Sending a ball of flames to hang above the plant it began to recoil from the light allowing Weasley to push the plant the rest of the way off of him and join the others by the wall. He stared at the floor refusing to look at Emily who had just saved his life.

"You could say thank you," Granger mumbled.

"Come on," Emily said, moving to lead them down the passageway which was their only option out of the room with the Devils Snare. The passageway itself was damp and there was water, or at least the witch hoped it was just water, trickling down the walls. They crept silently forward looking for any sign of danger or the next obstacle.

"What's that sound?" Weasley whispered.

Emily listened, a soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from the next chamber.

"Could it be a ghoul?" Granger offered.

"I think it sounds like wings..." Harry said.

"Well we will know in a second. There's a bit more light up there so we should be able to see whatever it is easily."

When they reached the end of the passage they saw a large open chamber. The ceiling arched high above them and was full of what looked to be jewel covered birds. Across from them on the other side of the chamber was a large door that would no doubt lead them forward.

"Will they attack if we cross the room?" asked Weasley.

"There is a strong possibility, if you give…," Emily replied but she didn't get to finish because before she could stop him Harry covered his face and ran across the room to the door. He started pulling on the handle, but it was in vain the door was locked.

"What were you thinking? Did you not just hear your sister say she thought they would attack?" Granger scolded Harry who was blushing bright red at his rash decision. "Honestly."

"Well they didn't. I'm fine," Harry added stubbornly, motioning for the others to join him.

Realizing they weren't going to be pelted by the jeweled birds Emily, Weasley and Granger made their way across the room. Emily tried using the spell she had used to unlock the door to reach Fluffy but it wouldn't open.

Granger pointed at the door and Emily moved aside for the Gryffindor to try but she had just as much luck as the witch before her.

"Okay it won't open, my best guess is this has to do with the birds," Emily said looking up.

"What do we do with a bunch of birds?" Granger thought aloud. They all stood there thinking and watching the birds above them.

"I don't think these are birds," Harry said suddenly. "They look like keys!"

"Keys with wings, so we need to…" Weasley added looking around the chamber. "Look there's broomsticks. We have to catch the correct key using the brooms. Harry, you can do this easy!"

Emily, Harry and Weasley each seized a broomstick while Granger who was not very good at flying watched as they kicked off and rose to get closer to the keys. They flew through the keys trying to figure out which key was the one that would take them forward.

"It's the one with bright blue wings. The key looks older than the others and it has a bent wing," Harry called out.

"We need to trap it and give it no way to escape!" Emily yelled back, not taking her eyes off the key. "I'll, stay below it and stop it from going down, Weasley since you are above make sure it can't get past you and Harry try and catch it on the count of three. One… Two… THREE!"

They moved quickly, Harry reached out easily catching the key and crushing it against the wall with his hand. The group hurried to land moving back to the door that would lead them forward. Harry put the key in and they all heard the lock click. Slowly he pulled the door open, everyone wondering what their next obstacle would be.

The next chamber was dark and Emily could just barely make out what seemed to be large shapes. As she took a step into the room fires burst into being on either side of the chamber filling it with light. Instantly she was aware that they were standing on a life size chessboard and the chessmen had no faces.

"Where's the other door?" Harry whispered.

"We have to play them to get across." said Weasley pointing to a door that was just visible behind the white pieces in front of them.

"Exactly how do we do that?" Granger asked nervously.

"I think," Emily said examining the board, "we're going to have to be chessmen. Are any of you good at chess?"

"Ron is the best out of us," Harry told her flashing an encouraging smile at his friend.

"Okay good, I'm not bad but I think more than one mind would give us the best chance."

"Well, I think Harry should take the place of the bishop," Weasley said pointing to where he wanted Harry to go. "Hermione be the Queen's side castle and Emily take the Queen's spot."

"And what are you going to be?" Emily asked heading to where the Queen was already moving to the side as if sensing her intention.

"A knight."

When they were in their positions the white pieces facing them made the first move. Emily and Weasley worked together to direct the pieces to move around the board. It was the first time the pair had ever gone longer than a minute without insulting or wanting to hex the other.

"Harry move to the right three spaces and take the pawn."

When they watched their first knight be taken they all were reminded of the dangers they were facing. The white queen smashed a sword into the knight before dragging him off the board.

"We didn't have another option," Weasley gulpped, looking shaken. "Hermione move to take their bishop."

The white pieces showed no mercy. Along the wall there was a pile of stone from all the pieces that had been taken.

"We're almost done," Weasley muttered as he looked to Emily. Emily looked around her and realized what he was planning to do.

"It's the only way," she told him receiving a nod in return.

"What are you two on about?" Harry asked.

"He has to sacrifice himself."

"NO!" Granger and Harry shouted together.

"There is no other way!" Emily yelled. "Don't move! Harry when the Queen takes him you checkmate the king understood?" Harry looked frightened but nodded his head yes.

Weasley made his move and was struck by the white queen knocking him to the floor. Granger went to move but a sharp glare from Emily made her remain still. Harry made his move. When the king knelt to Harry the chessmen bowed and made a path for them.

Emily turned quickly to the panic-stricken Gryffindor, "Granger get Weasley and tend to him. I'll take Harry with me."

"But…"

"Just go help him, I promise I won't let anything happen to my brother. We'll be fine." Granger seemed reluctant, looking between her two friends before she finally nodded in agreement. She hugged Harry tightly, whispering something into his ear and then rushed to go help the red head who was surprisingly already starting to regain consciousness.

Emily knew her twin was struggling as he watched his friends but they didn't have a choice, they had come this far they needed to keep going. The pair ran down the newly opened passageway and through the next door. They both cringed at the familiar smell of rotten garbage, lying before them in a new room was a troll, already knocked out and bleeding from a puncture wound on its head.

The twins scooted around it and made their way to the next room. Opening the door they noticed there was a table with seven bottles of varying shapes and sizes upon it. The minute they stepped over the threshold two fires sprang into life. Purple flames consumed the door they had just entered through and black flames consumed the door that would lead them on. Emily walked to the table and picked up a scroll and read it. Emily knew this hand writing at once. It was Professor Snape's. This was perfect.

"He's a genius… using logic," Emily said outloud. "Not many wizards or witches rely on logic and would be trapped here indefinitely."

"Won't we be trapped here as well then?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Har. But no we won't be. Give me a second, we have three poisons; two wine; and one to lead onward the other to send you back."

She reread the parchment and looked from the riddle to the bottles moving them forward and back until she was sure she had the right two bottles. Emily pulled a rounded bottle forward and set it in front of Harry before picking up the smallest bottle and holding it up to show him.

"This bottle will take the drinker through the black flames," she announced.

"But it's so small there can't be more than enough for one person."

"Yes and that is why I put that one in front of you," she said pointing to the rounded bottle. "It will take you back through the purple flames."

"Absolutely not! Snape is through there. You are not going alone!"

"I am and I will Harry!" seeing he was about to protest some more she cut him off. "Harry I know you think it is Professor Snape in the next room but it isn't. No don't look at me like that! You drink that and go through. Find Professor Snape and tell him what has happened and where I am. He is the strongest next to Dumbledore. Please just do this for me."

"But…"

"Harry you are wasting time I don't care if you don't like me for what you perceive me to be because I'm a Slytherin but right now I'm just your sister. Now drink that while I watch!" He wasn't moving. "If you keep refusing I will force feed it to you and shove you through the flames myself!"

Harry seemed to notice there was nothing he could say to change her mind and drank the potion. He hesitated for a minute like he wanted to say something but changed his mind before disappearing through the purple flames. Emily took a deep breath to steady herself. She needed to be in complete control before going on. When she felt prepared she downed the potion. It felt like ice was flowing through her system. Feeling the flames lick her body she entered them crossing into the final chamber. Once on the other side she found not Snape as Harry had been so sure she'd find, but the person she had expected all along.


	16. The Man With Two Faces

**16**

 **The Man with Two Faces**

"Quirrell," Emily said as the flames disappeared behind her and in it's place was a wooden door.

The man smiled as he turned to face her.

"Miss Potter," he answered inclining his head toward her. "I wondered when you would join me, but I had thought your brother might be here as well."

"He was with me for a time… he was certain you were Professor Snape."

"And you knew better no doubt," Quirrell laughed, it held no hesitance or fear as it usually did. It was cold and empty. "You can't blame your brother for being mistaken though. Severus swoops around the castle terrifying the students, quite useful for me and my task, you see. Who would choose me next to the dark bat of the dungeons?"

Emily engaged him in conversation as she took in her surroundings. "You were very convincing. I personally wondered if I wasn't wrong at times and that you were losing your mind." The man smiled and took a small bow. "You know Harry was very sure it was Professor Snape who tried to kill him during the Quidditch match."

"It was a great shame, I came within just a few seconds of killing him. If Miss Granger hadn't tripped and pushed me over I never would have lost my eye contact with him. She was too focused on distracting Severus to notice she was after the wrong man. It is funny if one thinks on it, the man trying to save him is the one he blames. After all that, Severus made himself quite unpopular with the teachers when he refereed the Gryffindor match against Hufflepuff, they thought he was trying to sabotage Gryffindor's chance at the Cup. Such a waste too since I could do nothing with Dumbledore there."

Quirrell snapped his fingers making ropes appear and wrap themselves around Emily keeping her firmly in place. The young witch wasn't expecting it and had no time to react.

"You are very intelligent, Miss. Potter. I am no fool, I know after Halloween you suspected I let the troll in."

"Of course I did. You disappeared as soon as all the teachers left the Great Hall. If you had truly fainted you would have still been there when I checked." Emily took a deep breath it would do her no good to let lose her temper she needed to stay calm.

"Yes well I needed to hurry but Severus seemed to know where I was going and was waiting for me when I reached the third floor. Halloween turned out to be a very unlucky night for me. Not only did the dog not manage to hinder Severus but my troll couldn't even properly kill your brother, instead you showed up to save them. I am quite skilled with trolls and I know you got a spell through its skin. Now if you could just wait for a moment while I look at this mirror…" Emily turned her head to see the same mirror her brother and her had come across on Christmas. "This is the last obstacle," Quirrell muttered running his hands over the frame to examine it.

Emily knew she needed to keep him talking so he couldn't focus on the mirror.

"Why don't you like Professor Snape? They say his leanings are Dark…" she prompted. She knew from her time with the man he was not the evil person people made him out to be but she had to get Quirrell's focus somehow.

"Your father didn't like the man, I am more annoyed than anything. He suspected me from early on you see. He threatened me, thought he could scare me like he does others. But I have Lord Voldemort on my side, Severus Snape cannot scare me." Quirrell stood directly in front of the mirror and stared eagerly into it. "I see myself with the Stone… now where do I find it?"

Emily needed to get his attention back. "What do you mean my father didn't like him? Professor Snape only mentions my mother."

"Of course he does. He was friends with your mother from a young age but your father is another story. They all were at school together. Your father and Severus despised each other." He seemed to feel he had entertained her line of questioning long enough as he went back to paying her no mind.

This wasn't helping she needed to think of something that would give her answers and keep him talking. Then she thought of the perfect thing to ask. "Why, if this was all an act, do you mutter quietly to yourself even now?" Emily knew she had asked the right question when she noticed Quirrell's eyes widen and a flicker of fear cross his face.

"I am but a weak man," he said, "and that causes me to struggle at times when my master gives me orders."

"You mean he is always with you, even now?"

"Very good Miss. Potter," said Quirrell quietly. "Yes, he is with me always. You see, I set out after Hogwarts to travel the world. I was foolish in my youth and still believed in things such as good and evil. When I was traveling I was fortunate enough to meet my Lord Voldemort. He showed me the truth, there is only power, good and evil do not exist. I pledged then to always serve him. He is a great wizard with immense power who must punish me when I am unable to do as he asks. After my failure at Gringotts he had no choice but to keep a closer eye on me…"

Emily thought back to her trip to Diagon Alley with her brother and Hagrid, she had met Quirrell but his magical signature had felt differently than when she had seen him again at Hogwarts. A terrifying thought hit her but she was unsure if it was possible.

"I don't understand where the Stone is…"

Emily's mind was reeling, she needed to focus. _**What I desire most in my heart at this precise moment is to find the Stone. If I could look into the mirror I should be able to discover where it is hidden. But I need him to let me in front of the mirror.**_

"Master I do not understand the mirror, I need your help!"

And to Emily's dismay all her fears were confirmed when a voice other than Quirrell's answered but seemingly still came from the man.

"Use the girl…"

Emily took a deep breath. This was what she had wanted. _**Stay calm**_ , was the mantra she kept repeating in her head. It was easier said than done though as Quirrell's focus was once again on her.

"Come here Miss Potter." Clapping his hands, the ropes around her fell limp to the floor and she slowly made her way toward the mirror. As she passed Quirrell he seemed to step up behind her as if he too would be able to see whatever she did. In the mirror she was disappointed to see her own reflection just as she was in that moment. After a few moments passed her reflection winked at her putting its hand into the pocket of her skirt and pulling out a red stone. Her reflection then put it back and Emily felt something heavy hit her leg. She had the stone!

"Tell me what you see!" Quirrell demanded.

She knew she had to lie and answered quickly without hesitation. "I see my parents standing proudly behind me and my brother is there as well."

"Move."

As Emily stepped aside, she looked to see how far from the door she was. More than likely it was a trap of some kind, though it would be better than being stuck here with this maniac. But it was too far she decided, there was no chance of her making it without having to throw hexes. If she were honest, her knowledge of hexes wasn't that extensive yet. She highly doubted she could do any damage, it would merely be a delay tactic. Plus, she would give herself away going for her wand and he had already demonstrated he didn't need a wand when he had produced the ropes to bind her. She was in the disadvantage. She was pulled from her thoughts when the second voice filled the room again.

"She is lying…"

"Miss. Potter!" Quirrell shouted. "I want the truth! What does the mirror show you?"

She heard the voice again. "I want to speak to her… face-to-face…"

Emily didn't dare move. She watched as Quirrell reached for his turban unwrapping it from around his head. Quirrell turned away from her and that was when she saw it, the explanation of the magical signatures she felt. Emily refused to let any of her fear show on her face. Where the back of Quirrell's head should be was a face. It had red eyes and snake like slits for nostrils.

"Emily Potter…"

Emily didn't move but she also didn't respond. She didn't trust her voice not to betray her yet. "We meet again," the face said. "Do you see what you have made me? I am but a shadow of what I was… I must share another's body to have a form… but there are those who adore me and are more than willing to give me their hearts and minds… I have been strengthened recently by the blood of the unicorns in the forest… yes it was Quirrell you saw that night… but with the Elixir of Life I can have a body again. We both know you have the Stone… give it to me Emily…" His powers must be stronger than she thought to notice she had the Stone.

"Why would I give it to you?" she said keeping her voice even.

"I can offer you the world Emily… I have watched you this year… you are strong and intelligent… you will grow into a beautiful Dark Lady by my side…"

"I could never join you!"

"Think of all I could teach you."

"You killed my parents and you want my brother dead."

Quirrell was walking backwards coming towards her as Voldemort smiled. " _This is much larger than that…"_ he hissed. "You know your father was the first to die that night, he was very brave in his efforts… but your mother never needed to die… she couldn't stand aside though and leave her precious daughter… you see I knew about you since before you were born. You have always been destined for greatness and by my side you can have everything you ever desired… Join me Emily… you will be my equal, and one day my wife."

"NO!" She grabbed for her wand hoping she could get at least get a spell off so she could make it to the door.

"CAPTURE HER!"

She felt Quirrell's arm wrap around her waist and pull her to the ground. The pain in her body was excruciating but suddenly it started to lessen. She looked up and saw Quirrell had a pained expression on his face as he looked at his arm which appeared to be blistering.

"Capture her! CAPTURE HER!" yelled Voldemort, Quirrell lunged, landing on top of her and pressing her upper body back into the ground. He had one hand at the base of her throat pushing her down and the other grabbed her wrist pushing it above her head. The pain in her body exploded again but so did Quirrell's pain.

"Master, I can't keep holding her down!" Quirrell held her pinned to the ground, still straddling her with his legs. Letting go with his hands, he brought them up to his face to examine, they looked as though he had been burned by a fire. The skin was beginning to look slightly charred.

"Do not harm her you fool, we just need to get her out of the school!" Voldemort ordered the man. Quirrell raised his hand to perform a spell that would likely render her unconscious but Emily reached up and grabbed his face in her hands. Quirrell screamed in pain. He rolled off of her, his face now suffering from the same burns as his hands.

His skin couldn't touch hers, she needed to keep him in enough pain so he could not cast the spell and sneak her out of the school. With difficulty she got to her feet and put one hand on his face the other she used to grab his arm. He tried to push her away but she only held on tighter. The pain was beginning to build to where she could no longer see anything, the pounding of the blood in her head was becoming louder. She heard Quirrell's shrieks of pain and pleas for the pain to end. Voldemort was yelling at him to "STUPEFY HER!" and then it could have been in her head but the last thing she heard was a familiar voice cry, "Emily!" She felt herself be removed from Quirrell as she allowed the darkness to claim her, falling deeper into the black abyss.

Attempting to open her eyes, Emily saw something gold glinting in her vision. Blinking a few times, she realized they were glasses as Professor Dumbledore slowly began to come into clear view above her. Emily immediately started to take in her surroundings, she was lying in a bed and Professor Snape was sitting to the side of her across from Dumbledore. The stoic man placed a comforting hand over hers. She grasped the hand like a lifeline letting her know she was okay before turning her head back to Dumbledore. "Sir did he get the stone?"

"Ah, right to the point I see. No Miss Potter, Quirrell does not have the stone." Emily nodded and took a second to fully comprehend where she was. She realized her bed was in the far corner of the Hospital Wing, there were curtains slightly blocking the majority of the room from her view but she could clearly see the table next to her that was piled with sweets. "Gifts from your friends and the other students," said Dumbledore, beaming. "I believe Misters Fred and George Weasley sent you a toilet seat. Madam Pomfrey has confiscated it as she felt it was not very hygienic for the hospital wing and your recovery."

The young witch smiled, she knew a way to get it back. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Three days, Mr. Malfoy has been very worried. He will be delighted to hear you are awake."

"How is Harry?"

"He and his friends are fine. They only had a few scratches that were healed quite quickly."

"How did I end up here?"

"Professor Snape and I made it just in time it would seem. He and I met after I ran into a distraught Miss. Granger while Professor Snape was informed by Mr. Potter. We were able to pull Quirrell off of you, though we worried we might have been too late."

"It was you I heard," she said looking to Professor Snape. He inclined his head towards her. "What happened to the stone?"

"It has been destroyed."

"So Nicolas will pass away then?"

"We had a chat and we both agreed it's all for the best. Nicolas and his wife have lived far longer than any magical, no matter how powerful, could hope to live and I dare say they have enough Elixir to see them through a bit longer." The man smiled and the group sat in silence for a few moments before Dumbledore lightly patted Emily's arm. "Well, I am going to leave you with Professor Snape. Rest well, Emily."

"Thank you sir," Emily said watching as Dumbledore left through the small opening in the curtains around her bed.

"How are you feeling?" Professor Snape asked once they were alone.

"Better, the pain in my head was horrible. It felt like it was splitting open… It started in my shoulder but I could feel it everywhere." She paused before looking Professor Snape in the eyes, "He is going to keep trying to come back even without the stone, isn't he?"

"Yes, that much we can be sure of."

"Quirrell did he…"

"The Dark Lord abandoned him and fled. Without the Dark Lord's presence he could not survive his injuries. The Dark Lord has no remorse or care for his followers, they are all expendable to him."

"He couldn't touch me without causing himself pain. I haven't read about magic reacting that way before."

"You won't find it in your books, it isn't a part of magic that is well known. Dumbledore believes that it is because of your mother's sacrifice. The Dark Lord underestimates the power and mark that kind of love can leave on someone."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Emily broke it, looking up at the potions master with a smirk on her face. "He told me that you and my father didn't get along."

"Did he? It is true we were not fond of each other. Perhaps in the future we can discuss it more but right now you need rest. Why don't you try and sleep?"

"Uh huh, I'll ask you later."

"I have no doubt of that. Now sleep."

"You were worried," she stated as she tried to get more comfortable in the bed, her eyes were starting to get heavy again.

"You are delusional, brat."

"Keep telling yourself that," was Emily's mumbled reply.

Professor Snape smiled at her before tucking her in, "Sleep, we can talk more this summer. I hear you will be at the manor." Trying to keep her eyes open for just a second more she nodded her head and mumbled a yes. She heard him softly chuckle as she drifted back off to sleep.

The next time she woke Draco was sitting next to her bed reading a book. "Good book?" she asked, laughing as he jumped, startled by her words.

"Em!" He got up hugging her gently before helping her to sit up and joining her on the bed. "I told you to be careful and next thing I know Uncle Sev is coming to tell me I need to go to the hospital wing. Did you forget that I said no stupid acts of Gryff bravery?"

Emily laughed, "I have so much to tell you, but right now I just want to focus on something else." She rested her head on Draco's shoulder and took a moment to enjoy sitting in the quiet of the Hospital Wing with her best friend.

"Uncle Sev is going to teach us Occlumency this summer. He said it will be safer for us if we know it."

"I agree. It also means we get to learn something new, which I am _always_ up for," Draco laughed at her enthusiasm."So, what has been going on around the school while I've been lying in this bed?"

"Everyone is talking about your adventure, though how much of it is true I have no idea." He grabbed one of the sugar quills off the table and passed it to her taking one for himself as well. "We won the Quidditch cup. Your brother seems distracted but as far as I know he hasn't been here." She felt a bit of disappointment to know her brother hadn't been to visit her. Sensing her mood dropping he began telling her how she needed to convince Madam Pomfrey to let her go to the feast to celebrate Slytherin winning the House Cup. They spent the rest of the afternoon talking and laughing together about trivial things as they ate their way through a sizeable portion of candy.

After a good night's sleep, Emily was starting to feel like her usual self. "May I please go to the feast?" Emily asked Madam Pomfrey when she brought her morning potions.

"Professor Dumbledore seems to think it would be good for you to attend, so you may go," though she was agreeing Emily could tell she wasn't happy with the headmaster's decision. "There is however someone here to see you now."

Emily was shocked as she watched Harry walk over to her bed. He seemed to hesitate before he sat down in the chair next to her bed. The pair were quiet for a few minutes before Harry finally spoke. "You're doing better?" he asked.

"I'm much better now. Thank you for getting Professor Snape."

Harry nodded, "He seemed very worried about you. I was sure he was going to sneer at me when he saw me. It made me nervous to see him so… different."

"He's not a bad man Harry." Her brother just scoffed and looked down at his hands, so Emily decided to change the subject. "What are your plans for the summer?"

"I'm going back to the Dursleys then Ron has invited me over."

"Harry don't go to Privet Drive come with me to Malfoy Manor, they invited you. You can go to Ron's from there."

"I'm not staying with the Malfoys," he said looking up at Emily.

"Harry, please. The Manor will be fun and there won't be any chores…"

"I'm not going!" Harry stood from his chair and took a deep breath, "I should go. I'm glad you're better." Emily watched as he left the hospital wing before pulling her knees up to rest her forehead against them.

When Emily arrived at the Great Hall for the end-of-year feast she saw that her House colors were everywhere, entering the hall everyone fell silent. She walked over and sat next to Draco who had saved her a seat. She paid no mind to the people that were trying to get a better look at her and smiled at her housemates.

"And another year comes to an end!" Dumbledore said rising to address the students. "We have just a few things to go over before we can get to our wonderful feast. It has been an incredible year, has it not! And I believe we have a few last minute points to award before we give out the Cup."

"First to Mr. Ronald Weasley for his understanding of strategy and sacrifice, I award Gryffindor House fifty points." The Gryffindors' cheers went up through the hall. "Second to Miss Hermione Granger… for bravery and calm in the face of danger, I award Gryffindor House fifty points. Third to Mr. Harry Potter for his strength and pure courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty points."

"Finally to Miss Emily Potter for the use of logic and cunning when faced with an enemy, I award Slytherin House seventy points."

"Now I believe that the House Cup needs awarding and the points stand thus, in fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty two points, in third place, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty six points, in second place, Gryffindor, with four hundred and seventy two points and finally in first place, Slytherin with five hundred and forty two points!"

"Slytherin wins the House cup!"

The Slytherin table applauded themselves, cheers breaking out all along the table. Emily just leaned into her best friend and looked to the staff table. Professor Snape inclined his head in her direction lifting his glass and Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling as madly as ever. All and all this was a wonderful celebration and one of the best evenings of her life.

In all the excitement Emily had almost forgotten that the exam results had yet to be posted, but when they were she was pleased to find she was the top of her class with Draco right behind her ranking second.

And in the blink of an eye their rooms were packed up and the Heads of House were passing out notes reminding the students that they were not allowed to use magic over the holidays. The first years were taken back by boats to the platform where they boarded the Hogwarts Express. As the train sped through the countryside and towards London Emily and Draco were eating through their stash of candy and playing games of exploding snap. Before they knew it the train was pulling into platform nine and three-quarters.

Emily watched as her brother and his friends went through the barrier before turning to meet Draco's parents. They both were extremely nice and made her feel welcome. Narcissa hugged her tightly, "Ready for a fun summer?"

"I'm excited. Thank you both so much for having me!"

"Don't mention it dear. We are happy to have you with us," she smiled at Emily holding out her hand. "Hold on tight, it will be an odd sensation." Emily nodded and took her hand as Draco took his father's. He smirked at her before she felt the tug and they disapparated with a soft 'pop'.


	17. A Birthday and A Warning

**17**

 **A Birthday and a Warning**

Emily sat in her window seat staring at the gift in her hand. She had been going back and forth on whether she should send it or not. The package was a birthday gift for her twin brother Harry, this was their first birthday apart and Emily was afraid it may be the first of many.

Emily Potter was a witch and had just finished her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had grown up with her twin brother Harry, living at their aunt and uncle's house on Privet Drive. This summer she had moved into Malfoy Manor with her best friend, Draco Malfoy's family, while Harry had returned to live with their aunt and uncle. Draco and Emily had met in Diagon Alley exactly one year ago today and they were fast friends. Once at Hogwarts they had both been sorted into Slytherin House, however her brother on the other hand had been sorted into Gryffindor. The Slytherin and Gryffindor Houses had a long standing rivalry that her brother had taken to heart. It hurt being separated from him but Draco had stepped in making sure she was never alone.

Over Christmas break Emily had felt comfortable enough to confide in her best friend of her beatings at the hand of her relatives. She told him that she had been raised to believe she was a freak not knowing that magic was real until Hagrid, the loveable Hogwarts gamekeeper, had shown up with her Hogwarts letter in hand. She even confessed her fears of returning to Privet Drive and what Dudley's gang might do to her if she did. Draco had gone to his parents and in turn they had invited her to stay with them. Emily had never dreamed when they invited her that she would be given her own room let alone that they would treat her like their own daughter, but that is exactly what they did. Her first day at the Manor Narcissa, Draco's mother, had taken her shopping for furniture and bedding. "You need to be comfortable in your new home," Narcissa had told her. "The first step is decorating your room." She had been right, decorating her new room had given the young witch a sense of belonging and allowed her for the first time to have something that represented her. It was a space she could retreat to at any time and feel completely comfortable. Emily's room now had dark gray walls with white crown molding and long white silk drapes hung to frame her lead paned windows. She had a black baroque French upholstered king sized bed with mirrored nightstands next to it. Her bedding was white with black detailing but there were tons of purple pillows on it. Her fireplace had two white leather wingback chairs in front of it with more purple pillows on them.

Emily loved her room. In fact, she loved the whole Manor, she was surrounded by magic wherever she turned. Like Hogwarts there were portraits that moved decorating the walls and it even had a few secret passageways. There was a library full of books she could read, a potions lab where Professor Snape would help Emily and Draco brew potions and three times a week they had lessons on occlumency which was a hard form of magic but Emily knew it was worth the challenge. Occlumency was proving helpful for Emily. It helped her with her emotions and made it less likely that her secrets could be found out and for her age Emily had a surprising amount of secrets. The largest being that the Dark Lord Voldemort, who had given her the scar on her shoulder, had broken into Hogwarts at the end of the term not only looking for the Sorcerer's Stone but also wanting to kidnap her hoping to form her into his Dark Lady.

But right now, it was Emily's twelfth birthday. Since the beginning of the summer holidays she had written to her brother a few times, receiving no reply. It wasn't that she expected much after the past year but she had hoped for at least a short response letting her know he was ok. She finally decided to write to the Weasley twins, whose younger brother Ron was Harry's best friend, to see if any of them had heard from him. Finally setting the package down she decided she would send it after hearing back from the twins.

Just then a knock came at her door. "Come in."

Draco opened the door, "Hey get dressed we are having your birthday brunch!"

"Kay, be right there." Draco noticed the box Emily was holding as she moved Harry's gift over to a side table before heading to her closet.

"Are you going to send it?"

Emily looked at the gift and back to Draco, "I'm going to wait until I hear back from Fred and George."

Draco nodded in understanding as Emily walked into her closet to put on her birthday dress, that she and Narcissa had gotten on a shopping trip a few days ago. As she looked around herself she still couldn't believe that the closet for her clothes was larger than where her and Harry had slept for ten years before going to Hogwarts.

She quickly put on her dress and new shoes before going into her bathroom to fix her hair and makeup. She had started to wear mascara and beige eye shadow this summer. Narcissa had been a positive change in her life. Having never had a woman she could look up to, to teach her about things such as makeup and go to for advice before, she welcomed the change. She imagined this was what it was like to have a mother growing up.

She exited the bathroom and noticed Draco was sitting in one of the chairs by the fireplace waiting for her. "I'm ready."

"You look beautiful, Em," he told her getting up and holding out his arm for her.

"Thanks Dray," she took his offered arm and they left her bedroom making their way to the dining room.

"Always the gentleman," Emily teased.

"Of course," Draco inclined his head towards her.

The dining room was a long room that had light gray walls. As in all the rooms in the manor there was a large stone fireplace and a crystal chandelier hung over a long table in the center of the room that seated twelve people. Currently Lucius, Draco's father, was sitting at the head of the table to his right was Narcissa and next to her was seated Severus, Emily's Potions Master at Hogwarts. He was good friends with the Malfoys and spent a lot of time at the manor. Emily and Draco took their usual seats to Lucius' left.

"Good morning," Emily greeted everyone.

"Good morning dear," Narcissa returned with a smile. "Happy Birthday!"

Lucius and Severus wished her a happy birthday as well and Emily couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her own face. She had never had people truly care enough about her to celebrate her birthday before, this feeling was entirely new to her.

Brunch was promptly served now that everyone was seated, the group all enjoyed their Eggs Benedict which was Emily's favorite breakfast food. Since coming to the manor the young witch had tried many new things but when it came to breakfast nothing could beat Eggs Benedict in her mind. She wished Harry would have agreed to come here so he could share all this with her. She shook her head, she shouldn't dwell on it, she knew it would only sour her mood and what was the point over something she could not change, Harry had made his decision.

"Shall we go open presents?" Narcissa asked rising and heading into the small lounge just off the dining room. They all rose following the blonde woman from the room. When Emily entered the room, she was greeted with a large pile of gifts.

"You really didn't have to get me anything," she said taking in the sight. "You have already done so much for me!"

"Hush, come and sit, you are in our care and we haven't given you anything less than you should have had all along."

Emily sat in her favorite spot on the chaise by the fire and began to open her gifts. From Severus she had received a gold cauldron which was used in brewing certain advanced potions. He had also given her two rare potion texts she had been wanting. Draco had given her a charm bracelet. It had a snake to represent Slytherin House, an Egyptian ankh represented both her love of ancient Egypt and life, and the third charm was an onyx stone which is believed to be able to help in healing the traumas of one's past.

Narcissa had bought her the Burberry coat she had seen in Muggle London when shopping, another pair of UGGs and a set of nail polishes that she could take to school with her. She opened Lucius' gift last and immediately ran to the man hugging him. He had bought her the brand new Nimbus Two Thousand and One broomstick. It was the newest Nimbus model on the market and also the fastest broom in production. It had an ebony handle with silver rotating stirrups. On the end of the handle in silver leaf letters was 'Nimbus 2001'.

After she had thanked everyone profusely Draco helped Emily take all her gifts back to her room. Upon opening the door to her bedroom she noticed that it wasn't empty. There standing before her was a House Elf, but it wasn't wearing the uniform the Malfoy elves wore. Emily looked to Draco who seemed to be trying to figure out if he knew this elf or not.

"Hello," Emily said letting the elf know he was no longer alone.

"The great Emily Potter!" the elf exclaimed turning to face her. "It is an honor miss…"

Emily looked to Draco who shrugged. He obviously couldn't place the elf and had no idea why it was here. "Uh… thank you," Emily said. "You know my name, but may I ask what your name is?"

"I am Dobby miss," he said sinking into a deep bow.

"It's nice to meet you Dobby. Is there a reason you are in my room?"

"Oh yes… well… Dobby has come to you miss… it is…" the elf seemed to be nervous but she waited patiently. When she realized he was struggling to decide what to say she took in his appearance, his hand was wrapped in a bandage and there seemed to be a few bruises on his body. He wore an old stained pillowcase making her wonder who he belonged to. All the Malfoy elves wore black robes with the Malfoy crest on it.

"Dobby are you okay? Is your hand hurt?"

Emily thought she had said something wrong as the elf burst into tears. "Oh Dobby I'm sorry," she said moving to console the elf.

"The great Emily Potter asks about poor Dobby! You is so kind!" he said letting Emily kneel before him and pat his shoulder.

"Dobby, can you tell me what family you serve?" The elf shook his head no. "Okay, so they didn't send you?"

The elf shook his head again, "Dobby has come to warn miss!"

"Warn me?" she shared a look with Draco.

"Terrible things are to happen miss! Dobby must protect the brave Emily Potter!"

"What is going to happen, Dobby?"

"I cannot say miss!" the elf looked upset with himself, he was wringing his long fingers in nervousness. He turned to acknowledge Draco for the first time. "Young mister Malfoy you must keep her safe!"

Draco stepped forward, "Emily is safe with my family, but it would help if we knew what we were keeping her safe from?"

"Horrible things have been planned… Hogwarts is not safe! You must protect the great Emily Potter!" the elf looked pleadingly at Draco.

"The House of Malfoy protects her Dobby. She is safe with us." Draco looked to Emily who was trying to process what the elf was saying. What was planned for this coming year that could make this elf worry for her safety?

"What at Hogwarts isn't safe Dobby?" The elf squeaked and looked at her pleadingly to understand. "Dobby, is your master involved? Is that why you can't say something?" He grabbed his ear and began to pull on them while looking around the room.

"You cannot punish yourself in this home," Draco told the elf.

Dobby stopped looking around but gave his ears one last tug before releasing them.

"Dobby, does this have anything to do with what happened at the end of the year?" Emily asked.

The elf looked pained, "Oh Dobby knows the great Emily Potter escapes Dark Lord for a second time… She is very great to escape him twice!" Emily looked at Draco who again seemed to be at a loss.

"Maybe I should go get my father," Draco said but Dobby jumped putting his hand in front of him.

"I must go! Dobby must leave! Protect the great Emily Potter!" with another deep bow the elf was gone.

Emily and Draco were quiet for a few moments as they stared at the spot the elf had just left. Emily was the first to recover and called out, "Mipsy!"

The elf the Malfoy's had assigned to take care of Emily popped into her room giving a small bow of her head, "Mistress Emily calls Mipsy."

"I need you to go get Lucius, and Severus if he is still here. Tell them to come to my room."

"Right away Mistress," with another nod of her head she disappeared.

"Dray, help me put all of this away while we wait," Emily said pointing to all her birthday gifts. The two got to work and had just sat down on Emily's bed when they heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," Emily called. Lucius opened the door and was followed into the room by Severus. They walked over to the bed the two teens were sitting on and joined them.

"Is everything alright?" Lucius asked, his face showed concern at being summoned.

The teens both hesitated before Emily launched into telling the two men about the strange visit from Dobby the house elf. "And then he left after telling Draco to protect me. He seemed really worried," Emily finished.

"I see," said Lucius looking over at his friend. "Severus and I will look into it. The elf called himself Dobby?" Emily and Draco nodded. "Okay why don't you two go out for a fly and we will call you in for dinner." Emily and Draco agreed grabbing their brooms to head out to the practice pitch. One of the many perks of being at the Manor was the Malfoys had a Quidditch pitch complete with regulation hoops to practice on.

For the first part of summer when they played Emily rode a Comet 260 from the broom shed. Now Emily couldn't wait to try out her new broom. Draco had received a Nimbus 2001 as a late birthday present when they had come home from Hogwarts for the summer and now she had her very own. Once Emily kicked off the ground she fell in love with her gift. It moved at the slightest touch as she raced with Draco around the pitch.

When they were called into dinner both teens were exhausted. They enjoyed a dinner of roast chicken followed by Emily's birthday cake that was shaped like a stack of books. The book on the top of the pile was green and had the Slytherin crest with 'Happy Birthday Emily' written on it.It was perfect.

When Emily got back to her room that night she noticed that there was a small pile of packages on her bed that Mipsy must have dropped off. A soft hoot drew her attention to Apollo who was sitting on his perch with a letter and package tied to his leg. She walked over and petted Apollo, letting him affectionately nip at her fingers when she gave him a treat. She untied the letter and went over to her bed deciding to open the other packages first. As she opened them she realized they were birthday gifts from her friends. Blaise had gotten her a broomstick care kit. Obviously, he had known she was getting a broom.

Marcus Flint had sent her a Puddlemere United Jersey and a book on the team's history. She was shocked to see Theo had sent her a beautiful silver hand mirror that had a snake winding around the handle with green emerald eyes. She set her gifts aside and reached for the letter and package Apollo had brought back.

 _Our Dearest Emmykins,_

 _First we must thank you for the idea of adding less flobberworms to the potion. You were right it reduced the thickness. As for your brother, Ron has not heard from him either. He has written several times with no response. We are planning to break him out in a few days. The next night Dad has a raid to go to for work we are going to sneak out and get him. So no worries the magnificent Gred and Forge are on it! We will write to you when we have him. Promise! We have added a little gift for our dear little Snake!_

 _HAPPY BIRTHDAY!_

 _Your loyal pranksters extraordinaire,_

 _Gred and Forge_

Emily smiled as she reached over to open the package. Inside she found a beautiful green quill and of course a bundle of blood pops. She had a feeling she would never run out of blood pops with Fred and George around.

That night when Emily went to bed her thoughts drifted to her brother. While she felt a little better that she wasn't the only one he hadn't written to she was worried about why he hadn't even written to Ron, his best friend. She hoped he was okay and that Fred and George could get to him soon.


	18. The Curse Breaker

**18**

 **The Curse Breaker**

Three days had passed since Emily's birthday, she still had not heard from Fred and George. She was worried for Harry and every day she grew anxious for news if they had picked him up yet. Lucius had been at the ministry a day ago for a meeting and had come home with news for her.

"Your brother has received a warning for using magic on your birthday."

"Is he okay?" Emily asked, worry evident in her voice. **"** Do you know what magic he performed?"

"I only know that a warning was sent to him. I'm sorry I don't know more," Lucius answered pulling Emily into his arms. "I know you are worried but there is nothing you can do right now."

Lucius was right there was nothing Emily could do at the moment, she also knew Fred and George would write to her as soon as they knew something. Emily was drawn from her musings by a knock at her door followed by Draco letting himself in.

"You better not be worrying," he said as he sat on her bed.

"How do you know I'm worrying?" Emily asked the blonde.

"Your book is closed, you are playing with the ends of your hair and you have your knees pulled up."

"Stop reading me, for all you know I'm thinking about a complicated spell from this book," Emily tapped the cover of the tome.

"But you're not."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do, it comes with being your best friend, now up you get. You need to change for dinner," Draco replied getting off the bed and pulling Emily's arms to make her join him.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"You mean the sweatpants and the t-shirt you stole from me?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's soft and I wanted to be comfy while I read." Emily looked down at her clothes and sighed, "But you're right I need to change."

Emily went into her closet, picking out a Navy pleated skater dress and changing into it quickly while she searched for her black high heel booties. Narcissa had recently taught her to walk in high heels. "When you are short you find high heels are a big help in giving you just a little extra height," she had instructed. Emily agreed, they may not have been very comfortable at first but now that she could reach the books on the higher shelves easier she couldn't complain.

Finding them she slipped them on before heading into the bathroom to fix her makeup and throw her hair up into a wavy ponytail. Quickly finishing she joined Draco to head to dinner, he was standing by the bed looking at the cover of the book she had been attempting to read. Holding it up, he raised an eyebrow at his best friend, "Complicated spell, huh?"

Emily quickly snatched the object back and tossed it on her bed ignoring the gold lettering that clearly stated _Alice in Wonderland_ , (a girl could still read her favorite muggle book) "Oh shut it."

Entering the dining room, the witch hesitated in the doorway noticing there was a guest at the table. She couldn't see their face because their back was to her but the person had long red hair tied at their neck with a thin leather tie.

"There you two are. Come sit," Lucius instructed noticing the pair standing at the door. Emily took her usual place at the table which put her between the guest and Draco. Sitting down she looked at the guest and did a double take. He looked extremely familiar. The stranger had blue eyes, a few freckles but what caught her attention was he also wore a fang earring. "Emily this is the curse breaker who does our wards, William Weasley."

"Most people call me Bill though," he added smiling at her.

"He has been working on updating the wards all day and will be staying the night with us," Lucius told her but she wasn't paying him much mind. Draco had to nudge Emily's side bringing her back to the present. She had gotten slightly dazed staring at the newcomer's smile.

"Oh sorry, I'm Emily Potter," she said offering a nod to the man.

"It's nice to meet you," Bill replied.

She noticed his eyes did not stray to find her scar like most people do when they find out who she is. It was a misconception that both twins were marked on their foreheads, most of Hogwarts had concluded that Emily had no scar and therefore only her Gryffindor brother had stopped the Dark Lord that fateful Halloween night. Forcing herself to stop looking at him and his deep blue eyes that seemed to sparkle at her... she shook herself mentally turning to Draco who just smirked at her.

As they began to eat Emily realized where she had seen this man before, he had been the man that was holding her in the Mirror of Erised. She leaned over to Draco and whispered, "Mirror."

He looked thoroughly confused by her random remark, "What…"

"The mirror from Christmas…."

Draco looked at her quizzically for a few moments before recognition crossed his face. He leaned forward to look at Bill subtly, by pretending he needed more pepper, before looking back to Emily. "Are you sure?"

Emily nodded her head. "He has the earring and everything down to the way his hair is tied…"

"What are you two whispering about," Severus asked raising an eyebrow at the two teens.

"Just the new runes book I started reading today," Emily lied smoothly, sitting up straight to look at the dark haired man.

He didn't seem to buy her excuse but responded anyway, "Ah so you finished the one on Hieroglyphs and ancient texts from around the world."

"Yes, it was really great for my practice of translating basic runes but in all honesty it was a bit too basic."

"You study runes?" Bill interjected, he seemed a bit shocked.

"I find them quite fascinating," Emily said turning her attention to the man.

"What is your new book on?"

"It is actually about runes used in warding, focusing on tactics used in Ancient Egypt." That part wasn't a lie ,she did have a book on the topic she just had yet to get to it with her earlier worries and her discovery that the family library had some of her favorite muggle stories.

"I work in Egypt on the tombs," Bill told her.

"Really?" He nodded his head in response. The rest of dinner Emily and Bill were in their own world talking about Egyptian tombs and warding completely missing the smirks from the rest of the table directed at them.

When Emily got back to her room that night she and Draco lounged on her bed talking.

"So you two seemed to get along well."

"Oh come off it, I am just a young girl to him. He has a little brother in our year."

"Yes, but he's the guy you saw in the mirror, that means something right?"

"The mirror just showed what I desired most."

"And that, is obviously him," Draco smirked.

"Oh shut it you," Emily said grabbing a pillow from behind herself and hitting him with it.

"Hey! Hey…" he said trying to fight off the pillow. "I am just stating the facts!"

Emily hit Draco one last time for good measure before putting the pillow back down. "Yes well it doesn't matter, the guy is gorgeous! I'm sure he has a girlfriend and you are forgetting the big point here, I. Am. Twelve!"

Draco just shrugged at her not seeing the problem with that statement, "Want to play some chess?"

Emily quickly agreed to the change in topic, the two spent the evening playing chess and talking. That night when Emily fell asleep her last thoughts were of Bill's blue eyes, red hair and the smile that made her melt.

The next morning Emily woke to a loud screech. Groaning she rolled over pulling her duvet higher to cover her head. It was in vain as she heard another screech.

"Hush Apollo, Mistress be sleeping. You no wake her!" Emily could hear Mipsy scolding the owl. The owl didn't seem to care that Emily wanted a little more sleep and flew over to the bed nipping at Emily's head. "Bad Apollo," Mipsy tried again, "let Mistress sleep."

The witch rolled on her back knowing her owl would likely not stop if she didn't get up now. "I'm up! Give me a second Apollo," Emily said sleepily stretching her arms above her head before pushing herself to sit up.

"Mipsy is sorry Mistress. She tried to stop Apollo."

"Don't worry about it Mipsy. Can I get a cup of coffee though," she asked smiling to let Mipsy know she wasn't angry with her.

"Of course Mistress, Mipsy be right back," the elf replied, popping out of the room with a snap of her fingers.

Emily turned to Apollo realizing why he had been attempting to wake her. He had a letter and from the writing she could tell it was from the twins.

"You are such a good bird," she cooed at the owl as she took the letter from him.

Immediately opening it she began to read:

 _Dearest Emmykins,_

 _We bring you good news! We have your brother!_

Emily sighed in relief Harry was with the Weasleys but what she read next took away her elation at knowing Harry was okay.

 _We never like to make a lady sad but that is where the good news ends, we didn't find him in the best conditions. He was locked in his room and there were bars on his window. Some sort of flap was on the door as well, we think that is how they brought him food._

 _All of his school things were locked in a cupboard under the stairs. You wouldn't happen to know why there was a sign in there that said 'Harry and Emily's room' would you?_

Lovely, they had seen the cupboard.

 _Anyway we took our Dad's car that he charmed to fly and were able to get him out of there just before your uncle could stop him. Not a very pleasant bloke that one._

'That's an understatement if there ever was one' Emily thought.

 _Turns out Hedwig has been locked in her cage for the summer but that is not the only reason he hasn't written to anyone. (We need to teach him how to pick a lock by the way!)_

 _He said that a House Elf named Dobby visited him and has been taking all his letters. He also said that the elf was there to warn him about danger at Hogwarts, begging him not to go back to school. He was adamant that Harry promise not to return, so adamant that when Harry told the elf he had to go to Hogwarts the elf used magic to get him in trouble._ __

Well that explained the use of magic and the warning he was sent, Emily thought.

 _Harry and Ron seem to think the elf was sent by either Draco or Nott to stop Harry from returning. We told them it couldn't be Draco as you are with him but you know our little brother and his blind prejudice…_ __

 _We tend to agree, it seems like someone's idea of a joke, just we have no idea who sent it. All we know is that elves have their own powerful magic and they are bound to follow their master's orders. But you have an elf now so maybe you understand them better than we do. Anyway, that is our tale._

 _By the way we were caught by mom when we got home, she seems to think we were exaggerating when we told her there were bars on Harry's window and that he was being starved…_ __

 _We need to get going and help with chores before our mom finds us writing to you! We are already in trouble enough!_

 _Your magnificent and wonderful pranksters,_

 _Gred and Forge_ __

Just then Mipsy popped into the room with Emily's coffee setting it on her nightstand.

"Mipsy, do you know where Lucius is?"

"Master is in his study."

"Thank you Mipsy, that will be all for now." The little elf bowed before popping back out of Emily's room.

Grabbing her coffee Emily began to drink it as she selected her outfit for the day. Picking out a pair of dark skinny jeans and a gray fitted V-neck shirt, she found her gladiator sandals putting them with her chosen clothes for the day and carried them all into the bathroom to get ready.

When Emily left the bathroom she grabbed her coffee cup, that Mipsy had obviously refilled while she was in the shower, and made her way to Lucius' study. Walking up to the door she knocked twice. Upon hearing Lucius' call to enter she opened the door, walking straight to her favorite wingback chair in front of his desk and curling up in it. Lucius' study was one of the smaller rooms in the manor. The walls to the left and right when you entered were covered in built in ebony book shelves. The wall directly behind Lucius' desk was painted a deep navy blue color and dominated by a large window overlooking the grounds. There was a fireplace in the middle of the bookshelves on the left with a large portrait of his family hung above it. Emily smiled as she saw the photos of her and Draco from this summer that were already being displayed on the mantel.

Lucius finished what he was writing before looking up at Emily with a smile, "You're up early this morning."

"Apollo returned with a letter from the Weasley twins," she informed him.

"Ah, and what news did they have for you?"

"Harry is ok but he was basically a prisoner in his room."

"I see," he said leaning back in his chair, waiting for her to continue.

"The same elf that was here, visited him as well. Harry told them it was the elf that did the magic when he wouldn't agree to not return to Hogwarts."

Lucius raised an elegant eyebrow, "I will talk to Severus about this. The problem we are facing with finding out who the house elf belongs to, is that most elves are not to be seen. Anyone who has elves in pillowcases would still have a few elves dressed like the ones we have here, those few would be allowed to be seen by guests while the others worked behind the curtain so to speak."

Just then there was a knock at the door, Lucius called for the newcomer to join them. Emily leaned around the chair to see Bill standing in the doorway.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said noticing Emily. "I can come back."

"No need, come in William," Lucius said motioning him into the room.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm finished and will be heading back to my job site."

Lucius stood moving around his desk to shake Bill's hand. "Well thank you for your hard work as always."

"Of course," Bill replied, turning to Emily he smiled at her. "You should write to me, I can always use someone to talk about runes with."

"Sure, I'd like that," she said returning his smile.

"I will see you next summer Mr. Malfoy. It was good to meet you Emily," he winked at her as he turned to leave. Emily took a deep breath focusing on her maintaining her weak occlumency shields to keep her blush from showing on her face.

Lucius seemed to know she was fighting a blush though and chuckled at her. "Do I need to keep my eye on him?"

"Oh please I'm twelve," she said refusing to look at Lucius. "His youngest brother is in my year at school."

Lucius didn't seem convinced.

"Boys won't look at me for a few years," Emily added.

"You obviously have never looked in a mirror. I am going to have my hands full, of that I am sure," he told her.

Emily just rolled her eyes, "Well I am sure that I need to eat something."

As Emily stood up Lucius pulled her into a hug. "I am just teasing you no need to run off."

"I am hungry though," she mumbled into his chest.

"Okay but I don't want you to worry, we will keep trying to find out who the elf belongs to. Though I do believe, since you know where your brother is now you might want to send him that gift you have been holding onto." Emily nodded in agreement. Kissing her head Lucius let her go making a shooing motion with his hands. Emily quickly walked out of the office, Lucius was right she had a package to send.

That night found Harry at the Burrow sitting in the living room with the Weasley Family. Fred and George were in a corner whispering to each other while writing on a parchment probably planning their latest prank, Mrs. Weasley was sitting on the couch knitting with Mr. Weasley to her left reading a book and Percy was up in his room where he had rushed back to do 'something important' after dinner. According to the twins he had been spending all his time in his room sending letters to someone.

Harry, for his part, was attempting to play Ron at chess when there was a tap at the window. Harry watched as an owl he recognized flew in dropping a package in front of him before moving on to the twins to give them a letter as well. Fred and George took the owl, glancing briefly back at the younger wizard before heading up to their room.

"Who is that from?" Ron asked looking at the package the owl had left. Harry didn't answer right away as he opened the note that was attached.

 _Harry,_

 _It's midnight and that means it's our twelfth birthday. I miss you and hope that your summer is going okay. The manor is amazing, there are so many things to do and explore. We have a massive library and there is even a practice pitch for flying. I know you will be heading to the Weasley's soon, I hope you enjoy yourself._

 _HAPPY BIRTHDAY_

 _Love you,_

 _Em_

He set the note down and opened the package. Emily had sent him a new pair of dark jeans and a red shirt with the Gryffindor crest on it. Looking closely he realized there was a small wooden box included, upon opening it he found a shiny gold practice snitch.

Quickly excusing himself, Harry took his gift up to Ron's room. He was conflicted while thinking of his sister. His sister was in Slytherin, everyone talked about how they were a House full of Dark wizards. She was living with a family Ron had told him were avid followers of Voldemort and she never seemed to care when Nott picked fights with him. On the other hand, she had come to make sure he and his friends survived at the end of the year landing herself in the hospital wing for a week recovering after.

Giving up on his thoughts Harry changed deciding to go to bed early. Laying there he attempted to push all thoughts from his head and just let sleep overcome him.


	19. Flourish and Blotts

**19**

 **Flourish and Blotts**

A week had passed since Emily had received the letter from the twins telling her that Harry was safe with them. A day after sending Harry's gift, Emily had received a short thank you note but she hadn't heard any more from her brother beyond that. Currently the witch was sound asleep in her bedroom at the manor but not for much longer.

Emily groaned rolling onto her side when she felt someone shake her shoulder lightly. "Mistress Emily must get up."

"I don't want to," Emily protested against Mipsy's actions snuggling deeper into her bed.

The little elf tried shaking her again but when Emily moved to cover her head she heard the elf sigh. "Okay then, Mistress not get her Hogwarts letter."

Just then the door to Emily's room burst open and she felt the space next to her become occupied. Draco who was now lying next to her began poking her shoulder.

"Get up! Our letters are here!"

"Go away!" Emily said making a feeble attempt to push him off the bed.

"Fine, I will just jump up and down next you then." A few seconds later Emily felt herself being jostled by Draco's bouncing. She attempted to scoot further away from him on the bed but he just followed.

Groaning the girl tried to slip onto her other side turning her back to her friend. "Dray please, just a little bit longer!"

"If you don't get up I will tickle you…" he threatened.

Emily hesitated would he really try to tickle her?

"Five… four… three…"

Emily decided she didn't want to find out if he was serious and swiftly pushed herself to sit up, stretching her arms in the air before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Fine, I'm up! Happy?"

"Very, now let's go!"

Emily grumbled at her best friend's enthusiasm so early in the morning. How could someone be so cheery this early in the day? She slowly got out of bed and put on the slippers that Mipsy brought her. Thanking the elf she reluctantly joined Draco as they trekked to the dining room for breakfast. When they entered the room Lucius and Narcissa were already at the table eating.

Lucius smirked at Emily as he watched her take her place grumbling about 'a stupid blonde git who couldn't just leave her to sleep in peace'. "How did he get you out of bed?"

"He threatened to tickle me," Emily muttered shooting a glare at Draco which caused Lucius to chuckle while Narcissa took a sip of tea to hide her amused smile. Mipsy shortly popped into the room carrying Emily's breakfast which consisted of two eggs over easy and sausage. Lucius poured Emily a cup of coffee and passed it to her.

Emily felt the presence of Severus Snape enter the room and move towards her. He placed a package by her before moving to take his usual seat next to Narcissa. Emily looked to the black haired potions master raising her eyebrow in question.

"It arrived as I was coming through the floo. I offered to bring it to you," he told her.

"And what did you get out of it?" she asked.

"A quicker breakfast," he smirked as Mipsy set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. Emily's personal elf Mipsy had taken a liking to Severus often helping to serve him when he was at the manor. Emily didn't mind sharing her elf with the man as long as she remembered to bring Emily her coffee when she woke in the mornings.

Finishing her breakfast she pushed her plate out of the way before pulling the package in front of her. Opening the note that was attached to the package she read:

 _Emily_

 _When I was at the Manor I realized I had just missed your birthday. I saw these and thought you may enjoy them. So… Happy Belated Birthday!_

 _I hope to hear from you soon,_

 _Bill_

She turned to the package opening it to find two wrapped gifts inside. Both were wrapped in dark green paper with golden bows wrapped around them. Deciding to open the larger one first she discovered it was a book on the use of runes in Ancient Egyptian healing rituals.

The second gift was a silver necklace that had a small emerald at the top of a cartouche pendant that hung from the chain. He most likely had the necklace personalized for her.

"It's from Bill," Draco told the table, reading the note Emily had set down to open the gifts, "for missing her birthday…"

"And what did he get you?" Lucius inquired. Emily passed him the book and the necklace.

Narcissa looked at the necklace smiling as she lifted it to get a better look. "What does this say dear?"

"It's a cartouche of my name."

"Cartouche?" Draco asked getting up to examine the necklace with his mother.

"They are ovals that have a name written inside of them in Hieroglyphics. In Ancient Egypt only pharaohs were allowed to wear a cartouche with their name in them. The oval that surrounds them represented protection against evil for the name that is inscribed within it." Severus informed his godson before looking at Emily with a calculating gaze. Turning to Lucius his expression was serious, "We should watch that boy."

"Not you too!" Emily cried.

"I said something similar a few days ago," Lucius informed his friend.

"You both should remember I'm twelve and he is twenty two. I am too young for him to think of me in that way."

Narcissa gave both Lucius and Severus a look that told them to drop it for now as she got up and walked around to where Emily was sitting. "Here let's put it on you," she said helping Emily clasp the necklace around her neck. "Now would you two like to see your Hogwarts letters?"

Draco replied with an enthusiastic yes but Emily who was still looking at the necklace now around her neck nodded her head absentmindedly. Draco nudged Emily as she thanked Narcissa who handed her the letter. Shaking her mind to focus on the letter she opened the yellowish parchment and read it. It said the same thing as last year, the train left at eleven from King's Cross on September first and the list of books needed for her second year was attached. Emily found it odd that they were required to get the entire collection of Gilderoy Lockhart's books.

Emily looked up to Severus, "Is there a reason we need so many of Lockhart's book?"

"Sadly, he is who Dumbledore has hired to teach your Defense class," Lucius answered for the man.

"Why would he do that?" Emily exclaimed. "Anyone who has read one of his books would know he is a fraud. I made the mistake of reading _'Voyages with Vampires'_ and it was obvious it was a complete sham. Vampires need blood, they can't live off lettuce. How anyone thinks that is possible is deluding themselves! The man is absurd!"

"I know, but many people idolize the fool," Severus sneered. It was obvious to everyone at the table that he disliked the man.

"But Dad couldn't you do something? We already had one incompetent teacher for Defense!"

"I'm sorry but there is nothing the governors can do. It is hard enough to fill a position that no one can seem to last in for more than a year without the governors being overly picky. You could end up without a teacher at all if we did." 

"I think you two should go with Sev, have your lesson for the day and we can go to Diagon Alley on Wednesday to get your things, how does that sound?" Narcissa said changing the subject.

Emily and Draco nodded leaving the table to head back to their rooms to get dressed for their lesson.

When the teens entered the training room Severus was already there waiting for them. "Come and sit," he told them pointing to the two chairs he had set out in the middle of the room. "I want you two to start with your meditation. Clear your minds and enter your mindscapes."

Emily closed her eyes letting go of all thoughts. She focused on the hum of magic she could feel in herself before entering her mindscape which was a circular stone chamber that appeared to be empty. She watched as black flame doors popped up around the room. First Emily focused on the walls making sure they were strong and that there were no cracks, then she went about sorting her most recent memories putting them behind the correct flame door.

Emily was drawn from her mind when she felt her shoulder being shaken. Opening her eyes she saw Draco was already done with his meditation.

"Okay, today when I attempt to enter your minds I want you to let me in far enough that you can try feeding me false memories. Since this is your first time showing a false memory I want you to try and alter a memory you already have. Use one that has little significance and you don't mind me seeing."

Emily thought about what memory to use deciding on one of the many times that she and Draco were in the dorms eating candy and talking.

"Do you have your memories?" At their nods he continued, "I want you to have someone in the memory say 'Babbity Rabbity'. That is all I want you to try and change for now. Are you ready? Emily do you want to go first?"

"Sure."

"Legilimens" Emily felt the very light pressure on her barrier, she relaxed allowing Severus to enter her mind. Emily felt him try to pull a memory and presented him with the image of her and Draco in the dorms. She focused on the conversation and the phrase. When Draco had asked her to pass a chocolate frog instead of responding in the positive Emily was finally able to force the memory of herself to reply with 'Babbity Rabbity'. As soon as she said the phrase Emily felt Severus' presence in her mind retreat.

"Good, now Draco," Severus commented turning to the blonde. Emily watched as Draco had his mind invaded and waited patiently for them to be done. "You both accomplished the task. Now, I know it seems silly that it was such a small change but that is the easiest part of altering a memory. I have a book for each of you to read," he said handing them each a copy of ' _Altering Your Mind'_.

"This will help give you more information on altering memories. I will also be retrieving a few Defense texts for you both as well in light of the new addition to the staff. Are there any questions?" Emily and Draco both shook their heads no. "Okay you are both dismissed for the day."

The two teens jumped up thanking Severus as they ran out of the training room to enjoy the rest of their day.

On Wednesday morning after breakfast the Malfoy family set out to Diagon Alley to get Emily and Draco's school supplies. As usual when they went somewhere, Draco apparated with Lucius and Emily with Narcissa.

"First stop we are going to Gringotts so you both have spending money for the school year," Lucius said directing them up the stairs of the large white building. Emily went to hand Lucius her key to give to the goblin but he told her as usual to put it away. She had learned quite early on in the summer that it was useless to try and argue about paying for anything and did as he said. Draco and Emily enjoyed the fast cart ride down into the depths of the bank. "The Potter vault is down here as well," Lucius told her pointing along they long cavern they had entered. "All the old wizarding families have vaults down here. When you turn fifteen your brother and you should be able to access the vault as you are both the last living members of the family."

Emily watched as Lucius approached a large door with the Malfoy crest in the center of it. Placing his family ring in the center, a white light flashed excepted his claim and allowed him access to the vault. He disappeared from few for a few minutes before returning to the cart handing Emily and Draco each a bag full of coins. Once they were back out in the alley they decided to start at the apothecary. Emily and Draco tended to run out of ingredients quite quickly with all the brewing they did. The pair wished there was a way to purchase more ingredients at once without them going bad or altering their properties with magic but there wasn't so it was no doubt they would be sending off an owl order shortly after their return.

From the apothecary they headed off to buy more parchment and ink before stopping at Madam Malkin's to get new robes, donating their first year robes to be resold. They then made their way to Quality Quidditch Supply to pick up new gloves and shin guards for Draco who was planning on trying out for the Slytherin Quidditch team this year.

Lastly they made it to Flourish and Blotts where there seemed to be a large crowd trying to get in. Emily groaned when she saw the sign declaring Gilderoy Lockhart was signing books today. Luckily the crowd moved easily to allow them through when they noticed Lucius. Once inside they began to gather their needed books. Emily smiled as she felt two of her favorite people come up behind her and sandwich her in a hug.

"Gred! Forge!" Emily cried.

"Hello dearest Emmykins…"

"How are you this fine day?"

"Shouldn't you be swooning…"

"…over blondie?"

Emily laughed, "No thank you! I can't believe we have to get all of the idiot's books. Is Harry here with you?" The twins nodded and pointed to where Harry was talking to Mrs. Weasley. Emily made her way to say hello to her brother when Lockhart emerged out to applause from most of the women in the shop. Weasley of course, made a comment to a photographer who pushed by him drawing Lockhart's attention to his spot in the crowd.

Lockhart seemed to scan the area, first finding Harry his focus on his scar before searching for Emily. While less recognizable than her twin since her scar was hidden, the man clearly knew who she was. "Merlin, Emily and Harry Potter!" he exclaimed. Lockhart quickly came around the table he was standing behind to grab Emily and Harry pulling them to the front of the crowd. Emily felt uncomfortable but her face showed a mask of indifference while Harry's burned red. The photographer began snapping pictures in rapid secession, the light a touch blinding to both of the twins. "Smile you two!" Lockhart said while trailing his hand that was around Emily slowly up and down her arm. "The three of us together will surely rank the front page!"

When the photographers were done Emily tried to pull away from the man but he pulled her tight against his side. When he seemed satisfied she wouldn't move again he returned to slyly trailing his fingers along her arm.

Lockhart called attention to himself and the room fell quite. "I have an announcement to make and since I have Emily and Harry here it seems like the perfect time to let you all in on a little secret I have been keeping!"

"Today Emily and Harry came to Flourish and Blotts to purchase my autobiography ' _Magical Me'_ , they had not even an inkling that they would be getting the real magical me when they return to Hogwarts on September first! Yes, you heard right ladies and gentlemen! I, Gilderoy Lockhart, have accepted the post as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for this coming year at Hogwarts!" The crowd burst into applause again as both Emily and Harry were presented with all of Lockhart's books free of charge. Emily staggered under the weight slightly before quickly making her way over to the Malfoys. Lucius took the books from her arms passing them over to the Weasley twins as he had already purchased the books for Emily and Draco. The twins thanked them as they headed off to find their family.

"Can we please go that man gives me the creeps," Emily said holding back a shiver at the thought of the man's fingers on her arm.

"Of course dear," Narcissa told her sensing the young girl's discomfort.

As they made their way to the door they came upon Theodore Nott, his father and the Weasleys. It seemed as if the group was in a tense standoff until they watched as Mr. Weasley threw himself at Theo's father, a fight ensuing between the two grown men. They crashed into a nearby bookshelf causing heavy spellbooks to fall from the shelves onto the heads of those close by. Mrs. Weasley was calling for her husband to stop while his children seemed to be egging him on. Lucius decided to help the poor store assistant who was trying desperately to break up the fight. "Please stop!" the assistant kept crying as he wrung his hands nervously. Lucius moved swiftly pulling Theo's father back, restraining him as Hagrid, who had just entered the book store, grabbed Mr. Weasley.

"That is quite enough gentlemen," Lucius commanded. "Edmund, calm yourself. This is no way to conduct yourselves in front of children."

Seeing the look on Lucius's face Edmund nodded his head and dusted himself off, "You are quite right of course Lucius." Edmund Nott was still holding what appeared to be a first year transfiguration book. Dropping it into the Weasley girl's cauldron he sneered, "Take it girl, it is the best your father can provide." He reached for his son and the two quickly exited the shop.

Lucius motioned for Emily, Draco and Narcissa to follow him out as well. Emily offered her brother a small wave while giving Fred and George a smile and a soft goodbye as she took Draco's offered arm and walked back into the alley.

"Well I think we have had enough excitement for one day," Lucius said. "Are you both ready to head home? I think we can have the elves whip up some ice cream sundaes for the two of you." When the teens nodded they walked down the alley to the apparation point. Emily took Narcissa's hand while Draco took Lucius' and with a soft pop they vanished from the alley.


	20. Back to Hogwarts

**20**

 **Back to Hogwarts**

The end of the summer holidays had approached quite quickly after the trip to Diagon Alley. Emily was excited to be going back to Hogwarts even though she was going to miss being at the manor. Even with the strained relationship between her and Harry it had been the best summer of her life. For the first time she felt like she had a real home and a family that cared for her.

The night before they caught the train to Hogwarts, Emily and Draco had stayed up late making sure their trunks were well organized and that they had everything they needed. Unlike last year all of Emily's belongings did not fit into one trunk so she had to decide what to take. Narcissa promised that if she had forgotten something that Emily could write home and they would send it to her. It was an amazing feeling for the young witch to have a place to truly call home.

Draco and Emily having woken early on September first decided to play exploding snap as they waited for the rest of the house to wake up.When Emily and Draco were called to breakfast they noticed Severus was there.

"Good morning you two, are you excited to be going back?" Narcissa asked the pair as they took their places at the table. The teens nodded their heads as Mipsy popped in placing Emily's favorite breakfast of Eggs Benedict in front of her. Emily wondered if the elves in the kitchens at Hogwarts would be willing to make it for her if she asked.

Breakfast was a rather quiet affair and when they had all finished Lucius drew the teens' attention to him by clearing his throat. "Severus and I have been talking, we still have not found out who the elf belongs to so you both need to keep taking the warning seriously. If you feel threatened you can always go to Severus."

"My password will be 'veneatorum morsus' for the start of the year," Severus informed them as Mipsy cleared away his plate.

"Venomous bite…" Emily smirked. "Seems fitting."

"You have been studying your Latin," Severus was clearly pleased with the revelation as he turned to look at his Godson. "Have you been studying as well Draco?"

Draco looked down at the table playing with his napkin in an attempt to pretend he hadn't heard his godfather's question while Emily had to cover her mouth to hide her amusement. Severus had been on them to learn Latin since they started brewing with him last fall. Emily had finally ordered a few books on it towards the end of last year so she could begin studying it. Draco wasn't very interested in learning Latin, whenever the topic was brought up he made up various excuses to leave the room or change the subject.

"I need to make sure all my Quidditch gear is packed and that Tippy remembered to put my broom with my trunk," Draco said jumping out of his chair to leave the room. The adults began to chuckle and Emily smiled watching Draco start to run when he thought they could no longer see him.

"Still doesn't see a reason to learn Latin?" Lucius said quirking an eyebrow.

"Nope," Emily replied turning to Lucius. "When do we leave?"

"Be in the Floo room in half an hour and we will apparate to the platform."

"Okay, I'm going to finish getting ready. We spent our morning playing exploding snap," Emily announced getting up from the table.

"You mean to tell me no one had to drag you out of bed?" Severus asked sounding amused.

"See you at school Sev!" Emily called out cheekily to the potions master ignoring his comment. As she was leaving the room she heard Severus mumble, "Exasperating brat," causing her to laugh the whole way back to her room.

Half an hour later Emily and the Malfoys appeared on platform nine and three-quarters. They left the apparation point moving down the train to find Emily and Draco a compartment. They found one not far from the front of the train that Blaise Zabini was already in. Lucius was quick to help them load their trunks into the compartment. Once Apollo's cage was safely on the self above the seats and the trunks were tucked in the corner Emily and Draco jumped off the train to say goodbye to Lucius and Narcissa.

"I want you both to study hard and remember what we said about going to Severus if you need anything," Lucius instructed as he embraced Emily and Draco.

"We will miss both of you," Narcissa said taking her turn hugging the teens.

Emily and Draco waved to them from their compartment window as the train pulled out of the station. The train sped out of London as Emily, Draco and Blaise settled in to catch up on how their summers had ended. About an hour into the ride the compartment door slid open to show two identical grinning red heads.

Emily smiled at the newcomers. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"We just wanted to check in on our favorite little snakes," said Fred.

"Yes and to thank the lovely lady for her help this summer," George added tossing her a vial of a pinkish liquid.

"So it works?" Emily said examining the vial.

"We were able to fix our glaring issues, plus with your additions…"

"It came together nicely."

"What is it?" Blaise asked.

"It is our newest prank our good fellow."

"It will make bubbles come from the drinker's mouth for about 2 hours after ingesting the potion," George explained pretending to straighten his robes.

"Wicked," Blaise said staring at the vial in Emily's hand.

"Very," the twins chorused.

"But alas we should get back dear Gred."

"Right you are dear Forge."

"Hey, before you two go, have you seen Harry?" Emily asked. The twins said they hadn't but told Emily they were sure he was with Ron and Hermione somewhere on the train before leaving the compartment. Shortly after the twins departed the food trolley made its rounds, the three teens bought an assortment of sweets and settled back in for the rest of the journey.

Emily looked out the window noticing they seemed to be passing a lot of farm land now, there were lush green hills just off in the distance and cows mulling around pastures. She decided she was going to try and find Harry, excusing herself as the boys played gobstones.

Emily searched for her brother becoming worried the more compartments she passed, she had yet to see Harry or his friends. Finally, she came upon a compartment where she saw Hermione Granger sitting alone reading a book. Knocking on the door Emily waited for the girl to motion it was okay for her to enter.

"Emily," Hermione said sounding a little shocked that the Slytherin girl was there.

"Hi, I was wondering if you had seen my brother…"

Hermione frowned at the mention of Harry, she closed her book but held her place with a finger. "I haven't seen him or Ron actually, I'm sorry."

"It's okay I'm just worried about him."

"I'm sure they're fine. Harry has been staying with the Weasleys so hopefully he and Ron haven't gotten themselves into too much trouble."

"Have you met my brother?" Emily sighed, sitting down across from Hermione. "He is like a trouble magnet."

The bushy-haired girl laughed at this while pulling out a bookmark from her bag and placing it where she had been holding her place.

"What are you reading?" Emily asked.

"Oh ' _Wanderings with Werewolves'_ , I just can't believe Lockhart is going to be our Defense teacher," she gushed. "He's a bit dreamy don't you think?"

Emily wasn't sure how to respond to that. She didn't really hang out with girls nor did she find Lockhart to be attractive. The man gave her the creeps, who has a smile that unnaturally bright she thought taking in the image of the man on the book? "He's not really my type," she answered the girl.

"Oh? Do you find any of the boys at Hogwarts cute?" Hermione seemed eager to talk to her. She must not talk to many other girls either being the best friend of two boys.

"There was a Hufflepuff I saw in the hallways last year who was cute. I think he is in fifth year now. How about you?" Emily watched as Hermione blushed bright red and looked down at her hands. "Is it my brother?"

Hermione shook her head no, "its George Weasley, Ron's older brother."

"You like Forge?" At the girl's nod Emily smiled at her, "There is no need to be embarrassed the twins are cute. They're actually quite smart too."

Emily could understand why someone like Hermione found one of the Weasley twins cute. She spent a lot of her time with her head in a book, while the twins were intelligent they were also very outgoing and enjoyed having a good laugh, their traits would be very appealing to the girl.

"Promise not to tell anyone?" Hermione asked looking at the other witch nervously.

"Cross my heart," Emily said drawing a cross above the left side of her chest with her finger.

"I haven't heard that one in a while," Hermione laughed.

Emily and Hermione talked for a little while longer until Emily noticed it was getting dark. Emily said goodbye to Hermione before making her way back to the compartment with Blaise and Draco.

"Where have you been?" Draco asked. "Did you find your brother?"

"No, I have actually been with Granger. She hasn't seen Harry either, but we ended up talking about a few books and things, just lost track of time."

Draco nodded, "Well, we need to get changed." The three quickly pulled on their robes just as the conductor sounded through the train announcing their arrival.

Being second years meant they were to take carriages up to the castle instead of the boats from the year before. The carriages had large black buggies and seemed to be pulled by invisible horses wearing harnesses. Draco held the door open for Emily and Blaise as they all climbed in for the short ride. Arriving at the castle the carriage let them out in front of the main doors, the three teens climbed the front steps and made their way into the Great Hall.

Emily noticed Marcus Flint was already seated at the Slytherin table and waved at her motioning them to the open seats across from him. "Hey guys," Marcus greeted. "Good summer?"

"Yeah, the manor was a lot of fun." Emily told him. "How about you?"

"It was good, nothing too exciting. We went to Spain for a few weeks."

It wasn't long before Professor Dumbledore called for quite as the first years were led into the hall to be sorted. Emily noticed the red-headed Weasley girl was with them. As the sorting started Emily looked up to the High Table nudging Draco to get his attention. "Where's Sev?"

Draco followed her gaze and realized that indeed his godfather was not there.

"I don't know…"

Emily turned her attention back to the sorting in time to see Ginny Weasley be called forward. The girl was quickly sorted into Gryffindor which earned loud cheers from her twin brothers.

When the last of the first years took their seats, Dumbledore rose. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" he beamed at the students. "I imagine you are all quite hungry so I will save my long speech as usual for after the magnificent feast that has been prepared for us! Enjoy!" Emily noticed that instead of sitting down to begin his meal Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall left through a side door that the teachers seemed to use from time to time when coming to meals. She turned to look over at the Gryffindor table finding Granger sitting next to Neville Longbottom with her brother and Weasley nowhere in sight.

Draco nudged Emily drawing her attention back to those around her. "Marcus was just asking if we had flown much this summer," Draco told her.

"Oh, yes we have," she said turning her attention to the sixth year. "Draco and I received Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones for our birthdays."

"Oh, I would love a broom like that! I was admiring them in Diagon Alley, much better looking than the Nimbus Two Thousand."

"I agree," Draco nodded as he added some chicken to his plate. "And it handles like a dream."

"I bet! Are you two going to try out for the team? We are holding try outs in two days. I want to get the team started early this year. We lucked out Em's brother couldn't fly in the last game. I want to beat them by playing against them with their best players out there."

"I'm trying out," Draco said. "Em still refuses to play."

"I don't refuse, it's just more trouble than it's worth right now. Tension between Harry and I is bad enough already, can you imagine if we played against each other and I won? Not to mention it would take up a lot of my revision time."

"I think you are worried about nothing. In the end it's a game and he's family. I also doubt the study time it takes from you would even come close to effecting your grades" Marcus pointed out to her. "If you change your mind we could always use a flier like you."

Emily shrugged and the boys carried on their talks about Quidditch. As she finished her dinner Emily noticed Severus and Professor Dumbledore finally join the high table. They were soon followed by a stern looking Professor McGonagall who was slightly shaking her head. Emily looked over to the Gryffindor table only to find her brother was still absent. She hoped he was okay.

"Why do you keep looking at the Gryff table?" Draco asked her.

"Harry isn't there and I couldn't find him on the train so I'm a little worried."

"We can go ask Uncle Sev when the feast is over. He was gone at the beginning so maybe he knows something." Emily nodded her head in agreement as she reached for her favorite Swiss roll for dessert. When everyone had eaten their fill Dumbledore rose to give his yearly speech.

"What a wonderful feast! Before we all head to bed I would like to make a few announcements. For all of our first years please take note that the forest on the grounds is called forbidden for a reason. Some of our older years can always do with a reminder as well." Dumbledore's eyes went to Fred and George before returning his focus forward. "For dates on Quidditch tryouts for your House team contact Madam Hooch. This year we welcome Professor Lockhart who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." Most of the female population broke into roars of applause as said man stood and gave a grand bow, winking at them all before sitting back down. Emily could only roll her eyes, how could so many people be smitten over an obvious fraud?

"Aren't you going to swoon too Em?" Marcus teased her.

Emily gave him an incredulous look which made Marcus laugh forcing him to try to cover it up as not to draw attention their way.

"Now I believe it is time for bed. First years, prefects will lead you to your dorms. Goodnight!"

Emily turned to Marcus, "Hey what's the password?"

"It's 'Magniticus anguis'," he said getting up to help the other prefects with the first years.

"What does the password mean, you know you want to tell me," Draco sung as they made their way out of the hall.

"Maybe you should just learn Latin," she told him knowing that was his way of telling her he was curious.

"I know but as much as I love studying with you I am not as quick or as enthused with it as you are."

"Indeed," Emily smirked at her friend.

"You spend too much time with Uncle Sev," Draco said shaking his head. "So… what does it mean?"

"It means 'magnificent snake'."

The two stopped at the portrait outside of Severus' private chambers. They let themselves in using the password Severus had given them that morning after giving a warning knock. Severus' living quarters were a comfortable size. When you entered through the portrait to your left was a small hallway that led to a guest bedroom, bathroom and his personal potions lab. In the sitting room there was a large black leather couch and two wingback chairs on top of a green rug in front of the stone fireplace. To the left of the fireplace was a door that led to his personal bedroom and bath.

Severus looked up from where he was sitting by his fire as Emily and Draco walked over and settled into the couch. "What are you two doing here?"

"We noticed you missed the start of the feast and my brother was nowhere in sight."

"That would be because he decided to fly an enchanted car to Hogwarts with his friend Weasley."

Emily groaned, "Did he say why they had this brilliant idea to fly here instead of take the train?"

"They said that the barrier refused to let them onto the platform and Weasley claims they had no other option."

"Harry had Hedwig, and couldn't they have just waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come back through the barrier?"

"They worried if they couldn't get onto the platform that in turn, Weasley's parents would be unable to get to them. Personally, I think they wanted another adventure."

"Lovely because we all need another one," Emily scoffed. Severus smirked tossing the Evening Prophet to her. The headline was about a flying car being spotted by various muggles around London. As she continued to read she kept wondering what her brother had been thinking. They had been seen by at least 7 muggles.

Draco who had been reading with Emily spoke up, "Doesn't Weasley's father work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office? Couldn't this be a huge setback to his career since it was his son and he obviously charmed the car himself?"

"He will most likely just be fined, but it won't look good for him for a while since he is the one that passed the laws that prohibit a lot of these kinds of things."

Emily shook her head she could feel a headache coming on. "Is Harry at least okay? He never came to the feast."

"He is perfectly fine, but you two should head back to your dorms to get settled for the evening," Severus instructed them. Emily and Draco rose bidding Severus goodnight as they left his quarters and headed to their dorm.

The common room was mostly empty as Emily and Draco made their way to find their second year rooms. "Night," Emily told Draco giving him a hug. "Night Em," he called heading off down the opposite hall. Emily opened the door to her room noticing it looked the same as it had the year before. She quickly went about unpacking everything before changing into her pajamas and climbing into bed with a book to read before falling asleep.


	21. Gilderoy Lockhart

**21**

 **Gilderoy Lockhart**

The next morning Emily forced herself out of bed and got ready for her first day back. She was already missing Mipsy waking her with her morning coffee, she wondered if she could work out a deal with one of the elves in the kitchen to leave her a cup of coffee as she was getting up each morning. Meeting up with Draco in the common room, the two second years made their way to the Great Hall together. As they walked into the hall Emily looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw her brother was already seated there. Even though she had been told he was alright it was nice to see it with her own eyes. Emily and Draco took their usual places across from Marcus, quickly loading up their plates with food. When Emily took her first sip of coffee she sighed in satisfaction.

"I can't believe you actually bought one of those things," Draco said referring to the muggle travel mug Emily had filled with coffee for the morning.

"Why wouldn't I? It makes it so much easier on me and I'll be less grumpy in our morning lessons, you should be happy." Draco rolled his eyes at her in response.

Just then the mail came in, among them was the Malfoy family owl, Hermes, who flew towards the two second year Slytherins dropping a package in front of them. They started to open it when they both were shocked by the angry voice that was filling the hall.

"– HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR? YOU WAIT TILL I SEE YOU NEXT! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN EXPELLED! I CAN'T TELL YOU THE THINGS THAT WENT THROUGH MY MIND WHEN WE NOTICED THE CAR GONE-"

The flatware on the table was rattling from the sound. Emily turned to see where the voice was coming from. She saw a red envelope hovering in the air as, what she assumed was Mrs. Weasley's voice, came from it. Ron Weasley appeared to be trying to sink further into his chair which only made it blatantly obvious who the recipient of the Howler was.

"– LAST NIGHT WE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE! I DID NOT RAISE YOU LIKE THIS YOUNG MAN! YOUR POOR FATHER WAS SO EMBARASSED! DO YOU EVEN REALIZE YOU RISKED YOUR LIVES?-"

That caught Emily's attention, how had they risked their lives? Both boys looked unharmed but that meant very little with the healing spells and potions at the magical world's disposal.

"– I AM ABSOLUTELY APPALLED WITH YOUR BEHAVIOR! YOUR FATHER IS FACING SCRUTINY AT WORK AND IT IS YOUR FAULT! IF YOU DISOBEY JUST ONE MORE RULE I AM BRINGING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"

Emily watched as the hall fell silent and the Howler burst into flames. Slowly people began to turn back to their breakfast.

"Ouch," Draco said taking a sip of his tea. "I am so glad my parents would never send a Howler."

"They would just threaten us through Sev."

Draco laughed, "Perhaps I feel worse for us now."

Emily nodded she felt a little bad for Weasley, a Howler was extremely humiliating. She had never heard one before, she had only read about them after she and Draco had passed Longbottom last year, who at the time had been holding a red envelope far in front of him as he raced to the door to go onto the grounds. It was then that she had asked Draco why he was so fearful of the letter and he had explained to her about Howlers.

Emily and Draco looked through the package Narcissa had sent, which turned out to be their weekly care package, while Severus was going along the table passing out their time tables for the year. The Slytherin second years had History of Magic for their first class of the day followed by Herbology with the Ravenclaws.

History of Magic was the usual boring ramblings of Professor Binns who still seemed to be stuck on goblin wars. Since Emily had yet to be assigned homework she spent the period reading a book she had ordered on creating spells. The Howler had given her an idea but she wasn't sure if she was skilled enough yet to complete it.

When class let out Emily and Draco were walking down the hall when she felt Lockhart's signature approaching. The man threw his arm around her shoulders smiling at her as if it was an everyday occurrence. Many of the girls in the hall were glaring at her in jealousy. Emily was uncomfortable but refused to allow her face to show anything other than a blank stare. When he appeared to not be saying anything Emily looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

Emily heard Draco snort before trying to cover it as a cough.

"Emily… oh dear Emily," Lockhart said still smiling at her as he squeezed her shoulder. "I was talking to your brother this morning and well – I mean it was so obvious after his little stunt – that it was my fault." Emily looked to Draco noticing he too was baffled by what the man was saying. How was Harry and Weasley's decision to fly a car to Hogwarts in any way related to Lockhart? "I think I gave him a taste of what publicity is like. You were both on the front page because of me and well of course he just had to do it again."

Emily remained silent. Maybe if she didn't respond, the man would say all he needed to and leave her alone. Anyone who looked at her brother could tell he didn't enjoy attention. He certainly did not fly a car to make a front-page headline. His name wasn't even in the article once.

"I had to remind him that he needed to calm down his attempts to be seen by the public. There is so much time for that after you finish school. You know, when I was twelve, I was a nobody much like yourselves. Though a few people know you both, so that is a start."

Emily watched his eyes search once again for her scar, she decided to clear her throat as his eyes wandered lower. He seemed to shake himself immediately flashing a smile at her. "Well I guess my point was, I just wanted to let you know that while I understand you must be eager, like your brother, for another taste of publicity, that you should refrain from stunts like his. If you ever need pointers though feel free to stop by my office at any time." With that he gave her shoulders another squeeze before walking off down the corridor.

"That man is insane," Emily huffed. "I smell terrible now. What was he wearing?"

"Who does that?" Draco said still staring in bewilderment after the man.

"Imbeciles," Emily answered pulling out her wand and waving it at herself to get rid of his smell. "I'm going to have to change at lunch. These are going to have to be washed before I can wear them again."

"Come on we're late for Herbology." Draco grabbed Emily's hand realizing they were standing in a now deserted hallway.

"Lovely, thank Merlin Professor Sprout is nice. She should understand." Draco nodded and the two took off running through the castle slowing down as they reached the greenhouses. They both took a few breaths before opening the door to join their class.

"Where have you two been?" Professor Sprout asked the Slytherin duo.

"We were waylaid by Professor Lockhart after History of Magic," Emily answered.

Professor Sprout nodded in understanding, "Very well take your places." Once Emily and Draco were situated Professor Sprout began, "Today we will be working with Mandrakes. Can anyone tell me the properties of the Mandrake and give an example of what it is used for?" No one seemed to be eager to answer so Emily raised her hand.

"Miss. Potter, go ahead."

"Mandragora is a restorative plant that is as powerful as it is difficult to grow. It is more commonly referred to as the Mandrake plant and though it is used in many antidotes it is most widely known for its use in the Mandrake Restorative Draught which is the only potion that can bring back someone from a petrified state."

"Very good, fifteen points to Slytherin!" announced Professor Sprout. "Can anyone tell me why Mandrakes are considered dangerous?"

Again Emily was the only person to raise her hand and was called on to answer. "Once the plant is considered fully matured from adolescence, the Mandrake's cry becomes fatal to those who hear it."

"Excellent Miss. Potter, ten points to Slytherin! The Mandrakes you have before you are just babies, so their cries cannot kill you yet, but you can pass out from them so I would like you all to take a pair of earmuffs," Professor Sprout said pointing to a bench were a bunch of earmuffs were piled in varying colors.

As everyone scrambled to fight over which colors they did or did not want Emily and Draco reached into their bags pulling out their own earmuffs. Narcissa had told them that they would need them from time to time starting this year, thankfully they had both thought to grab them this morning before leaving the dorms.

Once everyone had their earmuffs on Professor Sprout put a pair on herself and pushed up her sleeves grabbing the green leaves coming out of the dirt. She pulled up producing a wrinkled rough skinned baby from the pot. Its coloring was a light green and the baby was wailing at the top of its lungs. Professor Sprout reached under the bench in front of her pulling out a larger pot before burying the baby in the new dirt till only the leaves were visible once again. She wiped her hands on her apron and took off her earmuffs motioning for the student to do so as well. "I want you to do just as I did when working with your Mandrakes. We will have four people to a tray please. As you can see the compost is over there in the tubs and the pots are stacked in the back. Please keep your earmuffs on."

Emily and Draco were joined by Blaise and Theo. "Shouldn't you be with your bodyguards?" Emily said as she brought over a pot for their Mandrake.

"They will be fine on their own," Theo sneered.

Emily just rolled her eyes, "Let's get this over with. Theo put the new compost in the empty pot, Blaise hold the pot so it doesn't fall off the bench. Draco, hold the old pot while I pull the Mandrake out." When she saw their nods she instructed them to put their earmuffs on. Emily looked around her to see everyone else had their earmuffs on as well before she pulled the Mandrake out of its old pot. Even though the Mandrake was wriggling and trying to kick her they were able to repot the Mandrakes they were assigned quite quickly and with little difficulty. When they were done Professor Sprout excused their group for the day. Emily felt bad for her other classmates who had not thought to delegate the tasks beforehand and were struggling to carry out the assignment.

Theo stayed and waited for Crabbe and Goyle as Emily, Draco and Blaise went to the common room. Emily was anxious to change her clothes and she swore she was getting goofy looks from all the girls she passed. Clearly, they could smell Lockhart on her no matter how many spells she used.

"I am going to change and take a quick shower," she told the boys.

"I think I'm going to take a shower as well," Draco decided as he held open the door to the dorms. "We have lunch and then Defense do you want to meet in my room before we go to lunch or the common room?"

"I'll just go to your room, we can play some exploding snap or something until lunchtime."

Draco nodded as he and Blaise took off to clean up after being in the greenhouses.

After Emily finished her shower and had changed, she left her uniform out for the elves in her basket before making her way to Draco's room. Draco was sitting on the bed and Blaise was lying on the floor with a pillow reading. Emily walked to the bed laying down on her back. "So, Lockhart is weirder than we thought."

Blaise got up and joined them on the bed, setting his book down on Draco's desk as he did so. "We haven't even had his class yet today," Blaise said confused.

"He stopped us on our way to Herbology to have a little chat."

"Why?"

"He doesn't want Emily to go looking for publicity. He seems to think her brother and Weasley were looking to get in the paper when they flew that car to school."

"Why did they fly that car?"

"All we know is that apparently the barrier wouldn't let them through and they panicked, deciding to take the car instead of wait for help."

Blaise just nodded his head. "Sounds like a Gryff. Is it time for lunch yet? I'm starving already."

Emily cast a 'tempus' with her wand to check the time. "Perfect timing lunch is just about to start."

Lunch was uneventful and when they were finished the three second years went to the courtyard to relax like many of the other students. Emily noticed her brother was there with Hermione and Weasley. Hermione had her head buried into one of Lockhart's books while Harry and Ron were having their own conversation. Emily decided to go over and say hi to her brother.

"Hey Harry," she greeted ignoring Draco's shaking head. "Hermione, Ron."

"What do you want?" Weasley snapped at her.

"Ronald!" Hermione shrieked. "How rude can you be, honestly?"

Ron turned red, looking away just as a very small boy approached them. He was holding a camera and staring between Emily and Harry. Harry seemed to turn as red as his friend Weasley at the attention. Emily merely raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Hi! I'm Colin Creevey, I'm in Gryffindor with Harry, but I'm a first year," the boy said quickly as if he was rushing his words. "I was wondering if you two would mind taking a picture with me?"

"And you want a picture with us because…" Emily said looking at the boy with a blank stare.

"I want to prove that I have met you two," he said coming closer to them, his eyes shown with eagerness and awe. "Everyone has told me all about you two. How you defeated You-Know-Who when you were babies and that you have scars that look like lightning from the curse!" his eyes went to their foreheads though he looked a bit puzzled at not finding matching scars on their heads. "I like to take pictures and I was told that if I develop them in a potion the picture can move," the boy was jittery with his excitement, letting it show more with each sentence.

"I had no idea so many things were possible! I just got a letter from Hogwarts and all the odd things I had done made sense! My dad is a milkman so he had no idea that magic was real. He seemed to think it was a prank at first but I'm taking lots of pictures for him to show him everything I'm learning. It would be great if I had one where I was standing with you two and after I develop it you both could sign it!" Emily looked at the boy who was breathing heavily from his quick pace of talking. She then looked at her brother who seemed to be calculating if he could escape the courtyard before the boy could take a picture of them.

"You are signing photos for your fans now, Potter?" Emily watched as Theo came towards them, as always Crabbe and Goyle were flanking him on either side. "Signed photographs of Harry Potter," Theo called turning around to the crowd. "Quick form a line, no pushing each other!"

"I am not!" Harry said his face going red from embarrassment to anger.

The little first year told Theo he was just jealous. Emily thought the kid had a small bit of guts to stand up to the second year Slytherin but he would be crushed if he wasn't quiet.

"I don't want to be like Potter! He is a Gryffindor with a gash on his head. You need to learn that a scar doesn't make you special here," sneered Theo.

"Theo…" Emily went to step in but instead Weasley pushed himself forward pulling out a wand held together by tape as if to fight Theo himself. Emily was starting to wonder what was with Gryffindors and picking fights they couldn't win.Granger seemed to be the only one with a brain and reached out in an attempt to pull the redhead back.

"Oh I wouldn't do that Weasley," Theo said shaking his finger at the red head. "Any more trouble and your mummy will have to come and take you straight home!" People in the crowd were laughing, all of them thinking back to the Howler.

"What do we have here?" Lockhart said as he strode towards them. He was wearing bright turquoise robes that differed from the purple he had worn that morning. "Did I hear correctly that someone is giving out signed photos?" Lockhart's eye caught the twins and was instantly at their sides with an arm around each of them. Emily was going to kill Theo for causing a scene, slowly.

"Oh Mr. Creevey," said Lockhart flashing him a smile. "All three of us will pose for you and we can all sign it for you once you have it developed!" The boy seemed even more excited at the prospect of getting Lockhart in the photo with them and quickly took the picture before the bell went off to signal lunch had ended.

"Time to go to class everyone," Lockhart called to the crowd. He tightened his arms around the twins and set off back into the castle dragging them with him. His fingers had started to trace a circle into Emily's shoulder and with each swirl of the finger she plotted Theo's murder.

"I just covered for you both. We all had talks this morning and I believe I told you to not go looking for publicity. Your schoolmates are going to notice, you are trying too hard." Emily could feel the glares of the entire female population on her as they walked through the castle, though for Emily there was nothing to be jealous of when it came to Lockhart. "Here is the first pointer I will give you both, you are not ready to be handing out signed photographs of yourselves. You just look to be seeking attention…" Emily had to withhold a snort keeping her mask of indifference in place. "I just don't think you two are ready to be carrying them with you wherever you go yet. Like I said this morning just give it some time."

He finally released them as they reached his classroom. Emily groaned as she cast a spell on herself to get rid of his cologne, she was going to have to change before dinner now as well. Deciding to sit in the back of class for the first time since coming to Hogwarts Emily was shortly joined by Draco who slipped into his place next to her.

"That man has to be the biggest idiot I have ever met," Emily said glaring at the man's back.

Just then Lockhart cleared his throat calling attention to himself before Draco could ask Emily what the idiot had wanted.

Lockhart picked up one of the books sitting on Longbottom's desk and pointed to the picture on the front. "Me," he said smiling at the room. Emily let her focus wander a bit as he then launched into a tirade on his many awards, mostly focusing on how often he won the Most Charming Smile Award from Witch Weekly. He then informed them they would be starting class by giving them a quiz to see how much people had read.

Emily thought that was a reasonable thing to do and was shocked that he would think of it, that was until she was handed her quiz and began to read the questions.

 _What color is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite?_ __

 _What is Gilderoy Lockhart's lifetime ambition?_

 _What do you find to be Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest accomplishment?_

It seemed to never end... all the way to number 54, _If you were to get Gilderoy Lockhart a birthday gift what would he want you to give him?_

Emily reluctantly filled it out not wanting it to cost her a grade because she found the man's arrogance intolerable. Half an hour later he finally retrieved all the papers and began to flip through them. "Most of you seemed to have forgotten how much I love the color lilac. You know I mention it in Year with the Yeti... The greatest gift anyone could give me would be harmony between our world and the non-magicals, though I would never turn down a nice large bottle of Firewhiskey."

Lockhart winked at the class and went back to looking through the papers. Emily watched as all the other girls seemed to give a collective sigh. She just shook her head, this class could not end quickly enough for her. Lockhart set down the papers on his desk before moving to grab what appeared to be a large covered cage. He brought it forward setting it on the table in the front of the room.

"As your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher it is my job to prepare you to face the foulest creatures in our world! In this classroom we shall face some of your greatest fears together. Know that I shall never let any harm come to any of you! Please remain calm with what I am about to show you!"

Most of the class seemed to be quiet, now fearful at what he had just said. Emily on the other hand was skeptical and leaned back in her chair as Lockhart pulled off the cover.

"That is correct," Lockhart said dramatically. "Cornish Pixies!"

The boys in the class burst into laughter. Emily was covering her smirk with her hand. Lockhart looked around trying to figure out why they were laughing. Finally, Finnegan raised his hand informing the man that pixies weren't the least bit dangerous.

"Oh but they can be!" Lockhart said trying to draw the class back in. The pixies were a bright blue color, standing just about eight inches in height. They kept rattling the bars on the cage and making faces at the students.

Suddenly Lockhart told them to get their wands out as he opened the cage releasing the pixies into the room. Emily crossed her arms to watch what she knew was about to unfold. It was complete chaos. The pixies went flying off in every direction. Poor Longbottom found himself hoisted onto the iron chandelier on the ceiling by two of the pixies. Some just flew straight for the window breaking the glass in their escape, other pixies where grabbing parchment and ripping it to shreds or throwing ink bottles across the room. Lockhart for his part just kept yelling at students to round them up. Finally, he made a big show of rolling up his sleeves and shouting "peskipiksi pesternomi!"

Emily turned her head again to hide her laughter at the man who had just made that spell up. The only Latin in that phrase was 'pester' and 'nomi' meaning 'specified pests' but she had a feeling that was a complete accident. As expected his spell had no effect on the pixies, seeing this Lockhart dove to hide under his desk.

The chandelier on the ceiling eventually gave way, causing Longbottom to come crashing back to the ground. When the bell rang everyone rushed to the door to escape the madness in the room. Emily, Draco, Harry, Granger and Weasley were the only ones left as Lockhart asked them to put the pixies in their cage. Emily heard a moan and noticed Longbottom had not been helped from the room.

"We'll take him to Madam Pomfrey," Granger offered before turning to her companions instructing them to help her support Longbottom. As the four Gryffindors left the room Emily could hear Weasley ask Granger if she still believed Lockhart was amazing.

When the door was shut Emily let her annoyance show on her face. "This man is going to drive me insane!"

Draco just snickered at his best friend and sat down so as not to get in her way. He knew offering to help would only turn her annoyance on him, plus it was rather fun to watch the girl huff about. Emily swished her wand immobilizing the pixies before summoning them to her one at a time.

Once the pixies were in their cage Emily headed back to her dorm to change and take a shower for the second time that day all thanks to a man named Gilderoy Lockhart.


	22. Mudbloods and Murmurs

**22**

 **Mudblood and Murmurs**

For the rest of the week Emily spent a lot of her time avoiding Lockhart when she wasn't in class. She felt like the man was stalking her with how often he was close by.Luckily, she could feel his signature allowing her to quickly duck out of sight before he noticed her. Colin the little Gryffindor first year took great pleasure in cheerily waving at her in the halls and calling out "Hi Emily" every time he passed her. She would just incline her head at the kid in acknowledgement. She could tell from the few times she'd seen him do the same to her brother, that Harry was having a harder time hiding his annoyance, but the little boy seemed not to notice this at all.

On Saturday morning Emily found herself waking to someone knocking on the door. She looked over to Draco, whose room they had fallen asleep in last night, to see he didn't seem to hear the noise instead he just rolled over continuing to sleep. He was always taking the mickey out of her for not getting up in the mornings, yet he slept like the dead. She swore there could be a fire with people screaming all around him and he would never be the wiser.

Sighing she got out of bed to answer the door. Upon opening it she found Marcus standing there in his practice gear. "Hey Little Snake, I need to wake Draco. We have our first practice today."

Emily nodded her head, "I'll get him up, no worries."

"Thanks, we are meeting in the common room to go out to the pitch together. You should come."

"I think Draco would hex me if I didn't."

"Good girl, you can give us pointers on the new brooms and take some notes on our plays for feedback," he patted her shoulder as he went to go wake up the rest of the team.

Emily turned to Draco with an evil glint in her eyes. She moved to the desk, picking up a quill she focused on transfiguring it into a bucket. When she was successful she filled it with water levitating it over Draco before allowing it to tip and the water to splash onto the blonde heir. Draco woke with a start, jumping out of his bed.

"Bloody hell!"

"Language… language…" Emily said in a teasing tone.

"Why did you just dump water on me?"

"I needed to wake you."

"And why would you need to do that?"

"Because Marcus said you needed to be up."

"When did he tell you that?"

"When he knocked."

"You are so unhelpful right now," Draco huffed moving to grab his clothes. Emily smirked it was fun to toy with her best friend.

"You might want your practice uniform on," she informed him.

"Do I dare ask why?"

"You have your first practice."

"When?"

"Now."

"WHAT?" Draco started rushing around grabbing what he needed. Emily was much more relaxed as she made her way to the drawer she kept in Draco's room. She started doing it about a month into her first year, she spent enough nights in his room to warrant it. Draco had known Emily had not slept alone until she came to Hogwarts and that she still found it hard at times. It was nice for both of them because Emily never had to feel alone and Draco who had never had a sibling found that in her.

Taking pity on her friend who looked frantic, Emily moved to help him fix his uniform and grab his broom. "Calm down Dray, though I love to see you frazzled," here Draco glared at her, "you will do great. Stop worrying so much. You are Draco Lucius Malfoy go show them you deserve this."

Draco took a deep breath and nodded, "You're right. I'm ready, let's go."

When Emily and Draco walked out to the common room, the team was there all clutching their new Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. When Draco had made the team he had fire called Lucius in Severus' chambers to tell him the good news. Lucius, being the proud father that he was, had gone and bought a new Nimbus Two Thousand and One for every member of the team. They had come to Severus' office last night and the team had been shocked at the generous gift. From the moment Severus had passed them out the brooms had not left most of the players' sights.

The team and Emily left the dungeons making their way to the pitch. Along the way they ran into Blaise and Theo who were heading to breakfast but had joined them deciding to watch the practice instead. As they approached the pitch Emily noticed the Gryffindor team was already there flying and warming up. She looked up to the stands noticing the little first year boy taking pictures, Granger and Weasley were there watching as well. Once the Gryffindors caught sight of the Slytherins they flew down dismounting their brooms, instantly the Slytherins were on guard. There weren't too many happy faces among the lions and so the snakes discreetly held onto their wands. The Gryffindor captain Oliver Wood looked furious as he stormed towards them.

"What are you doing here Flint?" Wood demanded before shaking his head as if the answer didn't matter. "You know what, you can leave because I booked the field today for the Gryffindors!"

Flint just appeared amused at Wood's riled state. "We can both practice, the pitch is large enough," Marcus told him calmly.

"But this is our time!" Wood said shaking with anger. "I booked this time! For us, alone!"

"You see I have a letter here explaining everything," Marcus told Wood handing him a small roll of parchment. As Wood read the letter he seemed to deflate from his anger and a look of curiosity crossed his face.

"Where is this new Seeker?" Wood asked looking away from the note to examine the group in front of him.

Emily gave Draco's hand a small squeeze of support before he stepped forward, head held high.

"Draco is," said Marcus proudly, putting his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Look the Gryffs are storming the field," Pucey joked. Emily looked to where Pucey was pointing to see Granger and Weasley walking quickly towards the two teams to see what was going on.

"What are the snakes doing here?" Weasley asked looking at Harry. "And why is Malfoy dressed in Quidditch robes?"

"He's the new Slytherin Seeker," Emily sneered at the redhead, she was very defensive of the one person who had been loyal to her consistently since starting Hogwarts. She shot a sharp glare at Weasley for his unfounded hatred of all things Malfoy. She remembered how he had called Draco and his family evil without ever meeting the Malfoy heir.

"He's not all that is new. We received new brooms courtesy of Lord Malfoy himself," Pucey bragged making sure the silver name on the broom was visible to the other team.

All the Gryffindors turned their focus onto the new Nimbus brooms the Slytherins were displaying proudly. Emily mentally winced, she knew that they were proud of them but by calling attention to the fact that it had been Lucius who purchased them, made it look as if he bought his son's way onto the team.

She was proved correct when Granger spoke up looking at the Malfoy heir in annoyance. "At least Gryffindors don't buy their way onto the House team!"

Draco's face never faltered at the insult but she knew it bugged Draco that people would think he didn't make the team on his own merit.

Theo, who was still with them, stepped forward not liking what had been said. "You have no right to speak to us that way, you filthy Mudblood."

Emily tensed, she understood the slur was a derogatory term for those with non-magic parents like Granger, classing them as un-pure. She looked at her brother and he seemed to have no idea at what had been said. Flint pulled Theo back away from the Gryffindors, afraid they may try to hurt him. Emily watched as Weasley pulled out his apparently very broken wand attempting to aim it at Theo in defense of the girl. Of course his wand was taped together and the jinx shot out of the wrong end hitting Weasley in the stomach, causing him fly backwards. Granger ran to the boy but when he opened his mouth all that came out were slugs.

As the Gryffindors rushed to take care of Weasley, Flint shoved Theo towards Emily. "Would you mind taking him back to the castle before he causes us any more trouble," he said quietly.

Emily nodded while grabbing Theo's arm and dragging him away from the pitch. As they neared the castle door Emily pushed Theo in front of her shooting off a medium powered stinging hex at his arm.

"What was that for?"

"That was for making a scene just now and this is for the other day, making a scene over the picture the kid wanted." Emily shot off another stinging hex at his other arm. "I got trapped by Lockhart thanks to you."

"Miss. Potter, what do you think you are doing?" Professor McGonagall's voice was stern as the woman came upon the two Slytherins.

Emily turned she hadn't realized another signature was so close. She should have waited until they had made it to the common room.

"Sorry Professor," Emily said though in all honesty she wasn't sorry in the least.

"There is to be no magic used against other students. I'm afraid I am going to have to give you a detention." Emily nodded her head, she expected as much. "You will serve it tonight at eight with Professor Lockhart. He has been grumbling about needing some extra help. I will go inform him to expect you."

Frustrated with herself for letting her emotions get the better of her judgment Emily made her way to the kitchens to request some food before heading back to the dungeons.

Emily's day went by much too quickly in her opinion. After Draco had come back from practice they had shared the food from the kitchens and he caught her up to speed on the what had happened after she left, which was clearly not much as they lions were so worried about Weasley's spell back firing they had all carried him away to Hagrid's hut. The pair spent the rest of their day doing homework and playing games.

At eight o'clock Emily found herself outside of Lockhart's door. She made sure she was calm and that her face was a cool mask of indifference before proceeding to knock. Lockhart promptly answered making Emily feel as if he had been waiting by the door for her.

"There you are Emily!" he said smiling down at her. "Come in, come in!" Unsurprisingly the man's office was covered in pictures of himself and dimly lit by candles. The pictures kept winking at her, all of which appeared to have been signed in gold ink by Lockhart himself.

She looked over to his desk. It was a large Louis XV French style desk and had two chairs placed behind it. On top there was a stack of envelopes in front of one of the chairs and a stack of pictures in front of the other. Lockhart sat behind the pile of photos motioning for her to take the other seat. "You are going to address the envelopes for me!" he told her. "I have just gotten so behind on my fan mail since I started teaching! I was so happy when –"

Emily just began to tune the man out as he rambled nonsensically from time to time. She was pulled back to focus on him when she felt his hand on her thigh.

He began to rub his hand a little higher but never made a comment on it, so Emily decided she would speak up for the first time that night. "You know I had the most wonderful summer," she started. "I spent it at Malfoy Manor."

"Did you? I have noticed you and the Malfoy heir are close."

"Draco is like a brother to me."

"I see."

"It's nice, you know, to feel what it is like to have a family. I didn't really have that growing up and now I could easily call Narcissa Mum and Lucius is like the father I never had."

Emily felt his hand still on her thigh but he didn't remove it. "Lucius Malfoy…" his voice seemed to tremble at the thought of the Malfoy Lord. Emily knew many found him terrifying, she had no doubt Lockhart would run in fear if he was ever at the other end of the man's wand.

"Mhm, he's amazing. I even watched as he dueled Professor Snape. They like to challenge each other to keep in good shape. The magic they are capable of…"

"Professor Snape?"

"Yeah, though I call him Severus now. I guess they are like Draco and I, though I don't think they'd use the term best friends. I know I've heard Lucius say Severus was family, so maybe it's best to refer to them as brothers. Either way, Severus is brilliant! I don't know what I would class him as to me just yet, maybe a father and mentor figure. He has taught me so much since I've met him and to call him merely my professor feels wrong."

"Of course… it does…" his hand started to tremble a bit as he pulled it from her thigh. "That's all very nice," he squeaked. "Thank you for sharing with me." Emily could tell theman was less than pleased with her sharing but she was rather pleased with herself.

Smirking Emily continued on with her task, Lockhart for his part, remained quiet from that point on, keeping his hands to himself. As the candles burned lower Emily couldn't help but think it was about time the detention was over. That was when she heard something that made a chill run down her spine.

" _Come… I will rip you… I will tear at your skin… I will kill you…_ **"**

Emily looked around herself trying to find where the voice came from. She saw nothing and felt no other magical signature besides Lockhart's with her in the room. She needed to get back to her common room. "Sir?"

"Hmm?" the man was absently signing his photographs, his head propped up by one of his hands.

"I'm tired are we done for the night?" she asked covering a fake yawn.

"Oh, look at that! Time sure does fly when you are enjoying yourself doesn't it? It's been four hours!"

Emily just nodded quickly excusing herself as she walked cautiously, taking a shortcut to get to the dungeons in less time. She said the password and tore through the common room not stopping until she reached Draco's room. As she threw open his door, Draco, who had been reading while waiting on her to return, sat up looking alarmed at her sudden appearance.

"Em what's wrong?" Draco moved from the middle of the bed patting the spot next to him.

Emily needed no further invitation and climbed onto the bed next to him. "Well besides Lockhart creeping me out even more, I heard the most chilling voice at the end of the detention."

"What do you mean? Was it like…"

Emily cut him off knowing where he was going with that thought, "No it wasn't the same voice."

"Well could you feel the person's magic?"

"No that was what was so weird! There was no other magical signature with Lockhart's in the room or approaching that I could feel."

"What was it saying?"

"That was what was terrifying, it was talking about ripping and killing someone." Emily sighed as she rested her head on Draco's shoulder.

"Maybe you were just stressed. Let's try and get some sleep. You didn't feel a magical signature so maybe that's a positive, if you hear it again we will be more observant of our surroundings."

"Yeah, I guess I am tired." Emily got up, quickly getting ready for bed before laying back down and resting her head on her best friend's chest. He was right, she was just worked up and needed to relax. As she fell asleep she hoped she would never hear that voice again.


	23. The Deathday Party

**23**

 **Deathday Party**

October came and with it came the cold weather and heavy rains. Emily and Draco volunteered to help Severus brew Pepperup Potion as Madam Pomfrey's supply was being depleted quickly from all the colds the students and staff had caught. Emily had been delivering a fresh batch to the hospital wing when she had observed the Weasley girl be dragged into the wing by her brother Percy.

"I don't want to," she whined attempting to escape from her brother's grasp.

"You need it Ginerva, you look ill and mother will not be happy if you are not properly looked after," he scolded the first year.

Emily noticed that Percy was quite right, the little redhead looked extremely pale. The girl reluctantly took the potion before glaring at her brother and stomping from the hospital wing as the steam continued to come out of her ears making her hair almost appear to be on fire.

It was a Saturday afternoon, just a few days until Halloween, and Emily could be found with Draco and the Weasley twins in their abandon classroom turned private potions lab.

The room was very different from what it had been when Emily and Draco had first started using it with Fred and George. Along the back wall, the desks had been spread to make one long table with four brewing stations set up. Emily had ordered a few large pillows and blankets laying them out on the stone floor so they could all relax when waiting on potions to cool or working on ideas.

Today they were relaxing on their pillows and working on different ideas. Fred and George were going over a new prank potion they had thought up, Draco was taking inventory of their ingredients, making a list of what they needed to order and Emily was working on altering a spell. Bill's birthday was in November and she wanted to do something for it like he had done for her. She had kept in contact with Bill exchanging letters once a week since he had sent her the birthday gift. She looked forward to every letter, they were always a bright spot in her week.

"There you are, Emily," a voice said catching the witch's attention. Emily looked up to seeSir Nicolas, the Gryffindor House ghost, float into the room and glide over to her.

"Hello Sir Nicolas," Emily said inclining her head toward the ghost.

"Hi Nick," the twins chorused looking up for a brief second from what they were doing.

"Hello Nicolas," Draco added absentmindedly waving a hand in greeting while not taking his eyes off his task.

The ghost greeted the boys before turning his attention back to Emily. "Emily my five hundredth deathday is coming up on Halloween. I am having a large gathering down here in the dungeons to celebrate, with people coming from all over the country, including the Headless Hunt. I was wondering if you would do me the honor of attending."

"It would be my honor to attend Nicolas. Have you heard back from the Headless Hunt on your application?" The ghost huffed indignantly and raised his chin a bit as if defying someone.

"I have been denied, again!" Crossing his arms he floated towards where Emily had a potion simmering to look in the cauldron, giving him a moment to collect his thoughts.

"I'm so sorry Nicolas, I know you have wanted to join them for a while."

He turned to look at Emily once again, "It's not your fault, I just don't understand how they can continue to discriminate against me. Half an inch of skin… half an inch that keeps me from a completely severed head! But oh no, with that half inch the Hunt says I will be unable to participate in their recreational games so therefore I cannot be a member."

"Well if I see them at the party I will be sure to tell them what a wonderfully terrifying ghost you are."

Emily watched as Sir Nicolas' face relaxed into a smile. "Thank you, Emily."

"Anytime," she said returning his smile.

"Well, I will let you get back to your mischief. I am going to find Baron Williams while I am down here and inform him that it was at my prodding that Peeves crashed another cabinet."

All four students laughed at that. "And why did you convince him to do that?"

"Argus has been very grouchy since he has been sick and he was going to write up your brother because he had mud on his shoes after his Quidditch practice. I felt bad that it was my fault your brother didn't get to the tower before Argus came and lost his patience."

Emily nodded Filch hated the students and loved to use small excuses to try and get them into trouble. She was glad Nicolas had helped her brother escape the crazed man. "That was nice of you to help him. I hope you have a good day Sir Nicolas and tell Baron Williams hello for me as well."

"Will do. Try not to get into too much trouble, goodbye." Nicolas waved to her inclining his head before gliding from the room as Emily turned back to what she was working on.

0o0o0o0

The day of Halloween was turning out to be better than last year. Emily had Defense Against the Dark Arts that day and had talked one of the elves in the kitchen into helping her play a prank on Lockhart.

Ever since she had mentioned Lucius and Severus being close to her, Lockhart had been distancing himself as was her intention. He no longer randomly appeared in the hallways close to her other classes but unfortunately for her, she still had to listen to him spend hours talking about himself during DADA lessons. His classes were a joke and he avoided actually teaching them any spells, he just spent his time talking about winning the most charming smile award and the outfits he wore when he supposedly fought the magical creatures in his books. Frankly Emily didn't care what the color of his robes were and didn't see the importance of it, no matter what risky task he was supposedly facing.

So to give her some entertainment and pay the man back for her wasted time spent in his presence, she had an elf put the bubble potion, the twins had gifted her, into his afternoon tea. Normally the elves would refuse to help anyone in such a way but it turned out they seemed to have a strong dislike for the man as well. Emily was a bit foggy on the details but it had something to do with his demanding nature and some hair rollers that sparked the intense dislike from the ever eager to serve elves.

The students had entered the Defense classroom as usual, settling into their desks while Lockhart had taken a sip of his fresh cup of tea before stepping forward to begin his usual rambling. Today though when he had opened his mouth all that came out were different colored bubbles. He had tried for five minutes to talk before becoming beet red at the class's loud laughter, defeated he wrote on the board that they were dismissed before running out of the classroom his hand clasped over his mouth.

At a little before seven o'clock Emily, and Draco as her guest, headed to Sir Nicolas' deathday party. The path to the space Nicolas was using was lined with floating black taper candles that burned with blue flames and black rose petals were scattered beneath them on the ground. Emily found it to be hauntingly beautiful. The pair could tell there were many ghosts present as with each step the temperature dropped.

Nicolas was waiting by the door as they approached with a mournful look on his face.

"Emily and young Draco, welcome… It pleases me that you could join us tonight on this my day of death."

"Thank you for having us Sir Nicolas," Emily said smiling at the theatrical ghost.

Draco echoed his friend's words as Nicolas bowed deeply to them motioning for them to enter the room. The space was filled with hundreds of ghosts. The various chandeliers in the room were alight with the same black candles and blue flames that led their path there. A black platform was surrounded by black drapes on the opposite side of the room from the entrance where a ghost orchestra was currently playing. In the center of the room many of the ghosts were dancing to the music.

Draco escorted Emily to the side of the room so they could talk and observe the room better. They had only been there for about five minutes when Emily noticed her brother and his two friends, Granger and Weasley, enter. Weasley immediately spotted her and she watched as he started whispering to Harry quickly. Harry seemed to disagree with the redhead about something while Granger seemed annoyed with the boy's behavior. Emily nudged Draco to see if he had noticed them as well. Suddenly Weasley straightened up turning to leave the room with Harry running after him. Granger looked back over to Emily and offered her a wave mouthing 'sorry' before quickly following after the boys.

"Well that was rude," Draco said going back to examining the room. "Why do Granger and your brother hang out with Weasley?"

"I don't know. Weasley really gets on my nerves though, I have never done anything to him yet he still treats me like I'm evil. He even gets my brother to leave rooms that I am in…" she turned and looked at the door Harry had left through.

"You can't dwell on it. Weasley's behavior has been worse towards the Slytherins since Theo called Granger a Mudblood. If it helps I think you being here didn't bother your brother."

Just then a young female ghost flew past them in a hurry crying her eyes out as Peeves followed her throwing rotten peanuts and calling her 'pimply'.

"Poor thing," Emily sighed watching as the sobbing ghost disappeared through one of the walls.

"Who was that?"

"Oh, that was Moaning Myrtle, she haunts the girls bathroom on the second floor."

"What an odd place to spend your afterlife."

Emily shrugged, "I don't know why she haunts it but I know she gets lonely. I go in there once a week and say hello to her. People aren't very nice to her."

"How Hufflepuff of you."

Emily rolled her eyes at her friend, "Oh shut it, I can be nice sometimes."

"I'm sure the fourth year you hexed this morning agrees."

"She can't prove it was me. Plus it was only a stinging hex, it's not like I cursed her."

"Perhaps we could ask Lockhart."

"Again no proof, plus the man is not all that bright. I doubt he thinks it was one of the students."

As they were speaking Nicolas drifted towards the pair, "Are you enjoying the party?"

"It's lovely Nicolas," Emily answered the ghost with a smile. "I truly love the ambiance of the blue flames from the all candles you have burning, they were a wonderful selection."

"Thank you my dear. I am quite pleased with how many people have shown," Nicolas said gesturing behind him at the gathering of ghosts. "Can you believe the Wailing Widow is here, she rarely ever comes to these events you know… Well, I think I should give my speech now if you will excuse me so I may warn the orchestra."

Before Nicolas could move however the music stopped playing and the room was silent. The ghosts seemed to be filled with excitement as a hunting horn sounded through the room. "Wonderful," Nicolas said bitterly causing the two second years to look around curiously at what could have soured his mood.

Emily watched as see through horses burst through the wall being ridden by ghosts who were holding their heads under their arm. Applause filled the room at their entrance. Emily refrained from clapping as she knew these were the Headless Huntsmen that had denied Nicolas membership into their group. The ghost at the head of the Huntsmen jumped from his horse placing his head back on his body as he made his way towards Nicolas with a smirk upon his face.

"Nick! How are you? Still _hanging_ in there I hope?" The ghost laughed at his own joke and many in the room joined him.

"I am so delighted you could make it Patrick," though Nicolas looked like he was anything but pleased. The ghost caught sight of Emily and Draco, and after proclaiming them to be 'live 'uns', he jumped letting his head fall to the ground causing widespread laughter through the room.

"Wonderfully amusing," Nicolas said sarcastically, looking away from the scene the man was putting on.

"Oh don't mind him!" Sir Patrick roared to the room. "He is just bitter he can't be like us in the Hunt. I mean obviously he cannot join, just look at him! His head is still hanging by a thread!"

"I think," Emily said raising her voice at the ghost, "that Sir Nicolas is a very frightening and impressive ghost. You obviously don't know him very well for you to be talking about him as if he was a joke. The man is the ghost for the House of bravery here at Hogwarts and that is an admirable quality for someone who is a Huntsmen. Just look at his head, it took forty five hits to kill him when it most likely only took you one. He had to live through much more pain and yet you mock him. He has manners amongst his peers while you, Sir Patrick, seem to be a joke, no more than a common jester."

Sir Patrick stared at her completely speechless but her words had the desired effect as Nicolas beamed at her praise. "Sir Nicolas I think you should be quite thankful not to be one of these people. You are no jester but a brave and frightening man to be feared. Now, I believe you were going to give us a wonderful speech that you had prepared for us…"

Sir Patrick quickly turned and went back to his horse as Emily winked at Nicolas before he floated to the podium by the orchestra. "My illustrious guests, I am honored that you have joined me this evening in what is my five hundredth deathday…"

When Nicolas' speech was finished Emily and Draco joined all the guests in a round of applause for him. Emily, being human unlike the other guests, was starting to get hungry and she thought that perhaps it was time to go for the evening.

"Hey Dray, I think we should go. We can stop by the kitchens to pick up some dinner and eat in your room. I think we have missed too much of the feast to make it to the Hall." 

"Sounds good to me, I'm starving." Emily and Draco smiled and waved to many of the guests as they made their way to the exit. They looked to bid Nicolas farewell but he was surrounded by a group and seemed to be enjoying himself so they decided not to disturb him. As they were climbing their way up back up the stairs Emily heard it.

" _must rip… must find and tear… kill…_ " Emily froze, that was the voice she had heard in Lockhart's office the night she had detention.

"Emily are you okay?"

"Shh, I can hear the voice…"

" _hungry… so long… must kill…_ "

"Can you hear it?" she asked Draco who was staring at her with worry.

"No, what are you talking about?"

" _… yes kill... must kill… so hungry…_ "

Emily felt that the voice was moving upwards and she motioned Draco to follow her as she raced up the stairs following the voice. When she reached the first floor she could still hear the voice though it sounded as if it was coming from above her. How was it moving so quickly and why couldn't she see it or feel a signature?

" _… blood… I smell blood... must kill…_ "

"Blood…" Emily wondered aloud as she was looking around her. She ran up the next flight of stairs continuing to follow the voice. Draco followed her unsure what his friend was doing. She finally stopped when they came along a deserted hallway.

"Emily what has gotten into you?" Draco asked but all Emily did was point in front of her. Draco looked where she was pointing and froze. On the wall was a message painted in blood proclaiming the Chamber of Secrets had been opened and that enemies of the heir were to beware. The floor was pooled with water and there seemed to be something hanging motionless next to the massage. Emily grabbed Draco's hand when she realized it was Mrs. Norris, Flich's cat. She was hanging by her tail from a torch.

"We need to leave and quickly," Emily said taking a step backwards.

Draco nodded and they went to leave but the pairs path was blocked by the students returning from the feast. Their noisy chatter seemed to die quickly as they all took notice of the hanging cat and the message written in blood. Emily turned as she heard Theo's voice call out in the silence that the Mudbloods would be next. Theo was grinning at the sight before all of them looking smug while all Emily could feel was dread.


	24. The Writing on the Wall

24

The Writing on the Wall

"Move, let me through! What are you looking at?" Emily watched as the caretaker Filch shoved his way through the crowd of students to see what had caused the commotion. His eyes fell upon his cat hanging from the torch causing him to stumble backwards in terror. "Mrs. Norris… my… my cat! What happened to you?" He started looking around wildly until his eyes fell on Emily who was still with Draco separated from the group of students. "You, you did this! You murdered Mrs. Norris! You killed my cat! I'll…"

At that moment Dumbledore arrived and called for Filch to be quiet. He was followed by a few of the other professors as they made their way through the crowd of students. Dumbledore approached the hanging cat, removing her from the torch before turning towards Filch. "Argus come with me," he then looked to Emily and Draco. "You two will come as well, Mr. Potter I believe you and your friends should also follow along."

Emily looked over and noticed for the first time her brother was slightly separated from the mass of students as well, she wondered if in her panicked state she had missed him following her and Draco.

Lockhart eager as always to be involved stepped forward. "My office is just upstairs, you are more than welcome to use it Headmaster."

Dumbledore thanked him and the crowd which had fallen silent made a path for all of them to pass. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall joined them as they began moving away from the crowd towards Lockhart's office.

When they entered the office Dumbledore moved to Lockhart's desk while Professor McGonagall lit the candles around the room with a flick of her wand. As Dumbledore examined Mrs. Norris, Emily and Draco sat down in chairs along the wall. Professor Snape looked at them briefly before turning his attention back to Dumbledore. Harry and his friends remained close to Professor McGonagall clearly not comfortable with being asked to join the rest of the group. Dumbledore, for his part, was poking and prodding the frozen cat trying to see if he could understand if the cat was truly dead. Emily didn't think it was because it hadn't moved, it had remained frozen in the position it had been found in. If the animal were dead it should have gone completely limp but perhaps there was element to the magic the young witch wasn't aware of.

Lockhart wouldn't stop talking while everyone was waiting on Dumbledore to finish his examination, "It was clearly a curse… I'm thinking along the lines of Transmogrifian Torture… so unlucky I wasn't present to save her… I am very skilled with the countercurse you know…"

Emily looked over at Filch who had collapsed into a chair as his body was wracked with sobs. She felt bad for the man, slightly, as he had no one in this world other than the cat but she also felt he had brought that loneliness upon himself by his treatment of others.

Dumbledore began muttering what Emily thought were spells quietly as he pointed his wand at Mrs. Norris. There was no change, so Emily could only assume that the spells were having no effect on her. Lockhart had changed his tangent again, now talking about a village he had given people amulets of some sort to save them. Emily rolled her eyes at the man who obviously had not caught on that no one was taking his suggestions seriously nor cared to hear his stories.

Finally Dumbledore straightened himself addressing the room, "She is not dead." Filch started muttering, not understanding how his frozen cat could be anything but dead. "I am at a loss as to how it has happened, but your cat has been petrified, Argus."

"Just ask her how it happened," Filch said pointing to Emily.

Professor Snape took offense to that stepping forward leveling a glare at Filch, "Miss. Potter could not have done this, only very advanced Dark Magic could have had this affect. Miss. Potter is only in her second year or are you accusing her because she is in my House."

"But she had to have done it! It was her!" Filch cried. "She was closest to what was written on the wall, she's one of your snakes! Her brother saw my… he knows… he knows that I'm a squib! He told her!" He was pointing at Harry now, the young Gryffindor took a step back at the accusation looking up at his Head of House for help.

Emily looked at Draco and he slightly nodded his head. That answered their thoughts on the man that they had been wondering since Emily had noticed he didn't have a magical signature, he was indeed a squib.

"I promise you Mr. Filch I did not touch your cat and up until you just told me I was unaware that you were in fact a squib. I do not know what my brother saw but he has told me nothing," Emily calmly told the grief-stricken man as her brother nodded his head in agreement with her words.

"Like I'd believe you!" snapped Filch. "He saw the Kwikspell letter in my office! He told you! I want them punished!"

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Harry exclaimed looking at the crazed man with wide eyes.

"Calm yourself Argus!" Dumbledore said raising his voice slightly. "Professor Sprout has quite a few Mandrakes this year and when they have matured we can have a potion made that will bring Mrs. Norris back to an un-petrified state."

Hearing that, Lockhart immediately starting telling them how he could easily whip up the Draught himself having made it many times before.

Emily highly doubted the man had ever made it and if Mrs. Norris wasn't currently dead, she soon would be, drinking anything made by Lockhart's hands.

Severus quickly squashed Lockhart's offer with a sharp glare that made the man stop mid-sentence as he calmly informed the dunce that as the Potions Master he would be the only one brewing the potion. There was a tension in the air as Lockhart looked around for support but received none, after a few moments of quiet Severus offered to escort Emily and Draco to the dungeons before motioning them to quickly follow him from Lockhart's office.

It didn't take Emily or Draco long to notice they were not heading to the dorms but to Severus' quarters. Once they were in the sitting room the two Slytherins settled on the couch while Severus took his place in the chair by the fire.

"Why don't you start with why you were not at the feast," Severus said calmly though Emily knew he was anything but calm.

"We were invited to Sir Nicolas' five hundredth deathday party. We were there while the feast was being held. After his speech had been given we left and were heading to the kitchens to get dinner for ourselves when we ran into this mess. It was maybe two minutes tops from seeing the writing and the cat to everyone showing up."

Severus nodded, "You both need to eat then."

Severus called a house elf and ordered food for Emily and Draco. When the elf returned they were all quiet while Emily and Draco ate each going over the events of the night in their heads.

"What is the Chamber of Secrets?" Draco spoke breaking the silence.

"It is a long story that begins with a legend from the time of the founders," Severus quickly slipped into his teaching voice. "Over a thousand years ago four powerful beings joined together to build Hogwarts, you know them as Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Together they built this castle and made sure to keep it far from the prying eyes of the muggles."

"We know this already Uncle Sev," Draco drawled before grabbing his side where Emily had nudged him. She knew Severus thought this was important and if they interrupted him too much he would most likely just send them to bed.

Severus smirked at the two before disregarding his Godson's comment and continuing. "They were able to get along and run the school for a few years but they began to fight amongst themselves. Now at this point in history it is important to note that the muggles were extremely against all things that they felt were supernatural in nature, as they must be evil. They hunted down those who they thought to be witches and wizards with the intent to kill them, holding no remorse for their killings. They didn't care the age of the person, the fact that they had magic was enough to condemn them in their eyes. Now as this was happening children that were being accepted by Hogwarts were being killed by their muggle families because they feared their children or at least the stain that child could have on their family reputation."

"Let me guess this is where the famous rift between Godric and Salazar occurs," Emily said.

"Yes, Godric felt they should still continue to invite children from muggle families as they had been but Salazar felt that they were spilling too much magical blood by not interfering. He wanted to remove the magical children from their muggle families as to protect them or to not invite them at all until they could guarantee the safety of the child."

"I can understand that and it is the better of the two ideas, better to protect the lives' of the children and remove them from their muggle families than trust them blindly not to kill a child from hate. Either way though, this is not the story that many people tell of their fight," Emily said softly thinking of her own past.

"The victor writes the history and Salazar left when he realized he wasn't going to win. The other founders watched as many magical children lost their lives just as Salazar had warned them."

"So they did nothing," Draco asked. "Even though he was right they watched as more magicals were killed?"

"They did."

"Doesn't that make them seem more callous towards muggleborns than Slytherin?"

"One would certainly come to that conclusion knowing the history though I'm sure the remaining founders would argue that it was a sad effect of the times that could not be stopped and that receiving your letter was a right they couldn't take away. People ever since have painted Salazar as a person who hated muggleborns and muggles alike. Yet in truth he hated what the muggles were willing to do, even to children, because they possessed something they did not understand. To hurt a magical child is one of the greatest crimes in our society. We are rare and our gifts are precious. We hold power not many can understand."

"So what does all this have to do with the Chamber of Secrets?" Draco asked.

"That is what I am about to tell you, each founder is said to have had a room in the castle that they designed and used often. It is said that Salazar Slytherin's was built under the castle and that none of the other founders were able to enter so they referred to it as the Chamber of Secrets. Legend says when he left the school he placed a monster into the chamber. The monster is said to only answer to Salazar's heir. It is unknown exactly why he would place a monster there but most say it was to purge the school of those he felt unfit to learn magic. I think it was to protect the school but there is no way to truly know. Many have searched for the chamber but no one has ever been able to find it."

All three occupants of the room were silent. Emily's mind was racing, she thought of her own childhood and how some muggles were still afraid of magic, enough so that they were willing to beat children because of it. She felt a bit of anger directed at the other founders willing to let children die and not remove them from their non-magical families. Emily thought about her brother who still insisted on going back to the Dursleys during the summer. She felt so lucky to have the Malfoys and Severus. Thinking about the Malfoys an idea came to her.

"Sev, is this what that elf Dobby was talking about?" she asked thinking back to the sad elf from her birthday. "Is the chamber being opened what he was warning us against?"

"It is possible, but we cannot be sure yet. I will talk to Lucius but in the meantime I expect both of you to be careful, is that understood?"

Both Emily and Draco nodded in understanding. "Now I think it is time both of you head to bed," Severus said standing from his chair.

Emily and Draco each hugged him and bid the man goodnight before leaving to go to their common room. When they arrived it was deserted allowing them to make their way to Draco's room without interruption. Both got dressed in their pajamas and climbed into bed.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked knowing she was having thoughts of the Dursleys from the talk they just had.

"I've been better, I can't understand why they would risk children's lives just to leave them with family. Family doesn't always mean that one will be loved and accepted." The young witch had been given a harsh reality growing up and it was an example of how even in these times muggles still were not ready to accept what they couldn't understand. "They just sat back and watched as children were killed because why? I mean I understand some would have been taken out of good homes but wouldn't those parents rest easier knowing their child was with people who could protect them? They villainized a man who was trying to fix what he saw was wrong."

"Sev is right that Salazar's intentions were initially good, but I will admit it is well documented that he destroyed an entire muggle town towards the end of his life. He has been said to have taken pleasure in torturing some of the muggles who were unfortunate enough to cross his path. He played a part in his image, there was a hatred for muggles somewhere inside him, not necessarily for muggleborns but he held no love for muggles."

"Do you blame him?"

Draco pulled Emily into him rubbing her back, "I know you're upset but just remember you always have me. I am quite brilliant I'll have you know."

Emily smiled and lightly smacked Draco's chest, "You are so full of yourself."

"I am a Malfoy. We are gorgeous, astounding and very talented people."

Emily laughed, "Oh, you mustn't forget god like."

"Oh, you are very right, yes we are gods with golden hair." Emily couldn't stop laughing, she sat up grabbing one of the pillows and started to attack Draco. He quickly grabbed another one, a pillow fight quickly ensued. All thoughts of the chamber and Emily's childhood with the Dursleys were far from eithers mind as they laughed their way to exhaustion.

The next day Emily received the cold shoulder from anyone who wasn't a Slytherin. People who the witch knew to be muggleborns tended to keep a greater distance from her than others, some even turning around to run away from her. It didn't matter that Draco had been with her, they were all very willing to believe that she was in fact Salazar Slytherin's heir because she had been the Potter twin that was sorted into Slytherin.

"Em, just ignore them," Draco said.

"I am," Emily snapped at her friend.

"Well the scowl on your face says differently and is probably adding to their fear of you."

Emily shot a glare at her best friend but knowing he was probably right she took a deep breath before her face was back to a mask of indifference. As they were walking Emily noticed something odd. "Dray, why are the spiders fleeing the castle?" She pointed to a line of spiders trying to escape out an open window.

"That's strange I have never seen spiders behave like that before," Draco said taking a closer look.

"Huh, well let's ponder this later then, I'm hungry and if I don't eat soon I am going to start hexing people." Emily grabbed the boy's arm dragging him away from where he was watching the spiders.

After a long day in the castle Emily was extremely thankful to be a Slytherin that night because while all the other Houses saw fit to stay away and whisper about her, she at least could find normalcy amongst her Housemates. Sitting in her favorite chair by the fire not one Snake moved away or acted as if anything had changed and for that Emily couldn't help the small smirk on her face as she continued to read her latest book.


	25. The Rogue Bludger

**25**

 **The Rogue Bludger**

Since the pixie incident, Professor Lockhart had not brought anymore creatures to his lessons. He also seemed to have given up his usual cup of tea before lectures. He assumed the elves were angry at him and the bubbles had been their doing, so the man no longer trusted them to prepare his food outside of the Great Hall. His classes now centered on forcing the students to reenact various parts of his books. As Lockhart was still wary of Emily he focused his attention on her brother making him play the creatures and people he supposedly defeated or helped.

Today Emily watched as Harry was made to impersonate a werewolf. She didn't know if it was her but his usual annoyance at being chosen to participate didn't show as much today and she wondered why that was.

"Now is when you howl… very good… so next I pounce on him… slamming him to the floor… I then held him down… putting my wand against his throat… and then I used the very advanced and complex Homorphus Charm…of course he moaned… Harry... it was a bit more high pitched… yes that's it… and I knew I was successful when his fur vanished and he turned into a man. Of course, from that day on I was revered a hero of the village for saving them from the werewolf attacks."

Emily rolled her eyes thankful to hear the bell ring through the room signaling the end of the lesson. As Emily stood to leave with Draco she watched as her brother, Granger and Weasley held back.

"What could Harry possibly want from Lockhart?" The witch wondered as they headed off to the library to pick up a book Emily wanted to check out.

"I don't know he didn't seem as reluctant to help with the theatrics today." Draco shrugged in response. They walked into the library heading straight to Madam Pince. The normally strict librarian smiled at Emily and Draco when she saw the pair come in.

"Are you here for the book that Professor Snape requested I hold for you dear," she asked already standing to retrieve the item.

"Yes I am," Emily smiled in replied.

The librarian paused for a second as she scanned the table behind her desk before grabbing a small green leather book and handing it to Emily. "Enjoy it Dear."

"Thank you Madam Pince."

"Anytime Dear."

The Slytherin duo was leaving the library when they passed Harry and his friends entering. Emily made Draco pause for a minute, she had never heard of her brother coming to the library willingly and here he was walking up to Madam Pince. She watched as they handed over a slip, the librarian looked at it skeptically after hearing them mention they wanted 'Moste Potent Potions'.

Emily and Draco were both curious about the Gryffindors' new interest in potions but they decided to leave the library before anyone noticed them hanging by the door.

"That was odd, your brother and Weasley are not exactly good at potions and that is an advanced book," Draco said quietly as they made their way down to the common room.

"Well we know Severus didn't give them that note to get the book. I just am curious what they could possibly need from it…"

"I don't know, let's just get back. I have practice tonight and we could use you to watch, me especially, I'm going to need pointers for the game."

On Saturday morning Emily woke to her wand vibrating under her pillow. She had set an alarm spell on her wand making it vibrate so that she and Draco would be able to get up early because today was Draco's first Quidditch match against Gryffindor. Reaching under her pillow she pulled out her wand canceling the charm. Draco was already sitting up in the bed stretching his arms over his head. She supposed the normally deep sleeper had not slept as well due to nerves from having to play his first match.

The two teens got up and ready for the day. Emily wore the green Quidditch jersey Marcus had gifted her, dark skinny jeans and her green UGGs. She tied her green and gold ribbons into her hair before helping make sure Draco was ready to go to breakfast.

"Ready?" Draco nodded and Emily could tell he was nervous. "Dray, take a deep breath. Right now we are going to eat breakfast, nothing else."

"Just going to eat breakfast," he repeated.

Emily rolled her eyes hooking arms with the blond and forced him from the room to the Great Hall. When they were seated she put food on his plate instructing him to eat. Draco didn't consume much but his best friend considered what he did eat a small victory, she could only hope that the rest of the day would go better.

At eleven o'clock the pair parted ways, Draco made his way with the team to go to the field while Emily joined Blaise walking to the stadium to get seats. She felt a bit uneasy as they took their spots by the other Slytherin supporters. She didn't know if she felt something was off because it was Draco's first game or because he was playing her brother, but she just hoped they both were okay by the end of the game.

As the players walked onto the field there were uproarious cheers for the Gryffindors. All the other Houses wanted to see the Slytherins beaten. Shortly after taking the field Madam Hooch called the captains forward to shake hands before instructing the players to get ready. At the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle all fourteen players kicked off into the air.

Emily wasn't sure who to try and keep track of. She watched as her brother rose high above the other players and Draco did a lap just below him to work out his nerves.

It wasn't long after Draco passed Harry that a Bludger made its way for her brother just barely missing his head. She watched as George came to his rescue quickly hitting it towards Pucey but instead of continuing towards its target the ball changed course going straight back to aim at Harry again. George again hit it away and this time it just made an arc before coming back towards Harry once more. She watched as Harry speed off to the other end of the pitch only to be trailed by the Bludger. Emily didn't like this one bit. Bludgers were supposed to target players, yes, but not only one player. This time Fred came to Harry's rescue and the Bludger went flying away only to once again return forcing Harry to keep moving to avoid being hit.

Emily changed her focus to check on Draco. He seemed to be doing fine. A quick look to the score told her that Slytherin was up sixty points to zero.

It was beginning to rain, she knew that was going to hurt visibility. She hoped that Harry had an impervious spell on his glasses. Looking back to Draco he seemed to notice that the Bludger was following Harry and was wearing a frown. A whistle blew and Emily noticed a timeout had been called as the teams landed huddling together.

"Someone is tampering with one of the Bludgers," Emily told Blaise.

"Are they?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"It keeps going after my brother."

"Oh, I have been watching Draco this whole time." The boy moved his focus to where the Gryffindors were huddled and shrugged. "Seems fine now."

Emily shook her head at the boy turning her focus back to the field. The Slytherin team seemed to be in deep discussion and kept pointing towards Harry meaning they noticed what was happening now too. When she looked at the Gryffindor huddle they seemed to be having a disagreement of some kind. The twins did not look happy at whatever Wood was telling them to do and she had a feeling it meant they were told to let Harry handle the Bludger on his own. She knew if they said anything now it could mean a forfeit of the game and she highly doubted her brother would ever allow that.

The game resumed and Emily watched as Harry and Draco both rose higher and higher into the air. Harry kept diving, rolling, zigzagging and swooping around the field. People around her began laughing thinking the Seeker was putting on a show instead of dodging a rogue Bludger. Emily watched as Pucey headed towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Draco seemed to be moving higher to get a better view of the field not that it was easy with all the rain.

When she looked back at Harry he had sped off just to the left of Draco. He must have seen the snitch. She held her breath hoping this game would be over quickly but as luck would have it the rogue Bludger smashed into Harry's arm. Emily winced and watched as her brother dropped his arm quickly swerving to avoid the Bludger once again. This time Harry reached out his other arm and dove, catching the snitch before continuing his dive for the ground.

She moved her view to Draco and there seemed to be a mix of emotions working across his face before he became an emotionless mask landing by his team as they headed off the field. Gryffindors were rushing from the stands towards her brother but the young witch didn't have the urge to join them.

Putting down her binoculars she turned to Blaise as he lightly tugged on her arm in an attempt to help her stand. "Em, come on, we're all heading back to the common room."

"I'm going to go wait for Draco at the locker room," she told him allowing the boy to escort her out of the stands before heading off towards the Slytherin door.

When Draco emerged he was accompanied by Marcus who seemed to be trying to console the blonde. He looked at Emily and seemed relieved at her presence.

"Hey little snake," he said patting her shoulder. "Talk to him please... I'll see you both back in the common room later." He jogged off ahead of them back to the castle. Emily looked over at her best friend and knew he was torn.

"Mixed emotions…" she prompted.

"How can I have anything but… I mean if I won people would have said it wasn't talent but because there was a Bludger after him… but losing when the Snitch was so close to me…" he trailed off kicking some of the mud as they continued their sedated pace in the rain towards the castle.

"It's a lose-lose situation. We can still win the cup and you can still show them you are a good Seeker when you play the other teams. Harry is really good, no one has beaten him in a game yet, I wouldn't dwell on it."

When they got back to the dorms they both went to take showers and change after their long walk in the rain. When Emily came back to the common room she found Draco playing chess with Blaise.

"Hey, I'm going to go brew some more Pepperup. With all the students out in the rain Madam Pomfrey is going to need more and if I brew her a batch now she won't have to distract Sev from his new project, do you want to come?"

"I'm going to stay here. I'll see you when you get back."

"Okay," Emily said waving to the boys as she made her way to their brewing room. She set to work and it was about an hour later that she was disturbed. She smiled as she felt the presence of Fred and George. "Hey Gred, Forge, I thought you two would be in your common room celebrating your win?"

"We tried to celebrate in the hospital wing but…"

"…we were kicked out," they informed her. The twins quickly joined her by one of the cauldrons and started working on preparing some ingredients.

"The hospital wing? I didn't think anyone was hurt enough to be in there for long enough to attempt a celebration there…"

"Lockhart decided to help Harrykins with his broken hand…"

"…instead he vanished all the bones…"

"…poor bloke had to drink skele-grow."

"That man is so annoying! He is always making up spells that don't work. You can't just call out random words and think something will happen. I can wave my wand at a pumpkin all I want and scream bippity boppity boo till I'm blue in the face but it still won't become a carriage."

"Gred, I don't think our little Emmykins likes the new DADA teacher…"

"…whatever gave you that idea my dear brother."

Emily smirked at the twins and turned back to checking on her potion. "I just don't see what is so wonderful about the dunce."

"You're probably the only girl in the castle who thinks that way."

"Well, then apparently I'm the only sane one left."

"Woah, I don't know if we'd say that…"

"Not sure you've ever really been sane..."

"If you were, you probably wouldn't be hanging around us."

Emily couldn't help but smile at the twins' antics even though she threw a partially chopped flobber worm at the pair. The small group broke into laughter as they continued on with their tasks.

When Emily had finished bottling the Pepperup Potion she decided to help the twins finish what they were working on. By the time Emily started up to the hospital wing to drop the box off at Madam Pomfrey's desk most of the castle was asleep. She had gotten carried away helping Fred and George. Emily entered the hospital wing, quietly setting the box and the note she had written for Madam Pomfrey on her desk. She was going to check on her brother but sank back into the shadows when she saw him jerk up and a sponge fly to the floor.

"Dobby?" she heard her brother call.

 _The elf?_ Emily thought to herself. She was immediately curious as to how the elf had gotten into the Hospital Wing but then again it had gotten passed the Malfoy wards as well. Perhaps most people underestimated the ability of House Elves or they simply just didn't care.

"Why did Harry Potter come back?" the elf sounded devastated. "Dobby tried sir, Dobby did warn you! But you not listen to Dobby! Why did Harry Potter still come when Dobby stopped him from making the train?"

So it had been the elf that stopped Harry from getting on the train but what was he doing here now? He hadn't come to visit her again. He must feel she was safer than her brother for some reason. She needed to get out of here and tell Severus what she had learned. As she moved to slide out the door she froze when she heard her brother's voice.

"It was your Bludger?" he exclaimed. "You were the one trying to kill me during the game today?"

"Dobby never wanted to kill Harry Potter sir! Dobby be only wanting you safe and sent home! Horrible things are coming to Hogwarts sir! History is going to repeat itself and the great Harry Potter is not safe here. The Chamber of Secrets is open once more…"

That caught Emily's attention, she waited a moment longer but the pair just continued to argue about the boy staying at Hogwarts. She decided she would learn nothing else and slid out the door while their voices were still raised using a few passageways to get to Severus's quarters. It was late so she banged on his portrait loudly before letting herself in.

When Severus came into the living room he noticed Emily taking a seat on his couch. Raising an eyebrow at the late night intrusion, he sat in his favorite chair and looked at the girl. "And what pray tell are you doing here at this time of night?"

"I went to drop off some more Pepperup for Madam Pomfrey and since I was there I wanted to check on my brother. I heard that the idiot vanished the bones in his arm and that he had to stay overnight." Severus nodded to show he was listening and Emily continued. "When I went to approach his bed though he woke up and that elf was there, so I just sunk back into the shadows. I listened to the conversation and the elf admitted he stopped Harry from making the train and he was the cause of the Bludger that was after him today."

"I see, and did the elf say why he was doing this?"

"He wants Harry to get sent home, he doesn't think the school is safe for him."

"Has he visited you again?"

"No, I can only assume he feels I'm safer, because of who I associate with perhaps, but that's merely based on his comments to Draco over the summer." Severus nodded and seemed to be thinking. "Sev, that wasn't all, he said that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened before and that history was going to repeat itself..."

Just then there was a soft pop that made both Emily and Severus turn their heads to see a small elf. "Professor Snape sir, Professor Dumbledore be wanting the Heads of House in his office right away."

"Of course, inform the headmaster I will be there shortly." The elf popped out of existence and he turned back to Emily. "Go to bed and I will talk to Lucius tomorrow, I have to go now though."

Emily nodded and hugged the man before hurrying back to her common room. She slipped into Draco's room quickly getting ready for bed before climbing in next to her best friend. As she fell asleep she thought about what Dobby had told her brother and wondered why Severus had been called to the Headmaster's office so late at night.


	26. The Deuling Club

**26**

 **The Dueling Club**

Emily woke the next morning to notice that there was a slight chill to the room. She sat up pulling her wand out from under her pillow to recast the temperature charm. She took notice that Draco wasn't in the room, so she assumed he was taking a shower. Her mind flashed to the night before, contemplating what she had heard. The door to the room opened and Draco walked in pushing her current train of thought from her mind.

"Good morning," Draco said noticing she was awake.

"Morning," Emily answered stretching her arms above her head.

"You got in late last night. I tried to stay up but I was exhausted."

"Its okay, I got carried away brewing with Fred and George, by the time I got to the infirmary I stumbled upon that house elf visiting my brother again..." As Emily got prepared for her day she explained to Draco what she had heard in the hospital wing last night. He was of the same mind that telling Severus had been the correct thing to do.

They made their way up to the Great Hall and were met with hushed whispers. Taking their places at the Slytherin table by Marcus, Emily was beginning to get curious as to why people kept looking at her. "Marcus what's going on?"

"And can you pass the bacon," Draco added already pouring himself a cup of tea.

"A student was attacked last night. It was one of the Gryff first years," he informed Emily as he passed the plate of bacon to Draco who nodded in thanks.

"Attacked?" she asked confused.

"Yeah like Filch's cat. Apparently he is petrified and up in the hospital wing."

Emily's mind went back to last night, the only person who had been in the hospital wing was her brother. She then thought about how Severus had been called to the Headmaster's office, that must have been when it happened. "How was a first year attacked so late at night?"

"It was that kid who is always trailing after you and your brother with his camera. People think he was sneaking out to go see him." Emily shook her head that kid had no boundaries.

As Emily ate she thought over this new information. The boy must have been found not long after she left the hospital wing and that didn't sit well with her. She had been in the halls when the boy had been attacked, it made her a bit nervous.

The school seemed to be on alert after that morning. First years could be seen traveling in large packs, making sure they were never alone. The atmosphere in the castle was one of nervousness and suspicion. Emily noticed that Ginny Weasley seemed to be very upset, more so than the others in her year. Fred and George kept trying to cheer her up with their various potion creations but they only appeared to make things worse. Emily had helped them create a potion that covered your body in bright colorful fur, but when they tried using it to make her laugh she had run away from them screaming. They had come back to the brewing room to hide from Percy after he had threatened to write their mother if they didn't leave Ginny alone.

Many students out of fear seemed to be purchasing amulets and random knickknacks that were meant to protect the owner from harm. Emily even watched as Longbottom bought an onion that had been painted green and was slightly rotting. She was surprised that he would be worried as he was a pureblood and according to the rumors the people who needed to be nervous were the muggleborns.

Severus came around the Slytherin table the second week of December seeing who would be staying for Christmas. Emily and Draco had signed up because Lucius and Narcissa had business out of town and they thought the teens would enjoy being at the castle more than joining them. The majority of people seemed to be leaving the castle, not in excitement to see their families but out of fear from the recent events. Emily and Draco were fine with the decision to stay but were a bit disappointed that they learned they wouldn't have the common room to themselves this year because Theo, Crabbe and Goyle would be staying as well.

Emily had also been informed by Myrtle that her brother and his friends were planning something and had begun brewing in her bathroom. When Myrtle had pointed out which stall it was Emily decided to snoop and checked the conditions of the cauldron. She couldn't tell by the smell or the appearance what they were brewing, all she could tell was that it was in its early stages but she knew that there was no temperature control in the stall. She decided to cast a few charms to make it safer for them to brew there.

On Thursday they had potions with the Gryffindors. Emily was getting annoyed because Theo kept trying to throw puffer-fish eyes into Harry and Weasley's cauldron.

"That is so dangerous, why must he keep throwing things," Emily said annoyed.

"Sev will give him a detention tonight you know that," Draco told her while stirring their Swelling Solution.

"Wait what is Harry doing…" Emily looked at her brother who had ducked behind his cauldron. She watched as he stood up looking around him before chucking something towards Goyle's cauldron. Emily grabbed Draco and quickly cast a shield around them. Seconds later Goyle's potion exploded. Theo's face began to swell as the potion dripped down his head. Emily turned her head and noticed Granger slipping into Severus's private supply cupboard.

"OUIET! Everyone stop what you are doing now!" Severus yelled. "If you have been splashed please come forward. Miss Potter and Mr. Malfoy if you could assist me in passing out the Deflating Draughts…"

Emily and Draco moved forward quickly helping to pass out the draughts to all the students who had been splashed which, was almost every Slytherin. Emily glared at her brother as she continued to help out. What had he been thinking?

Severus was trying to help Goyle when Emily saw Granger slip back into the room. What ingredients did they need that they had to steal them to get, couldn't they have just send out an owl order? She was conflicted, she wanted to tell Severus but she knew her brother would be angry if he found out she had been the one who told. Emily and Draco started to clean away the mess around the room careful not to touch any of it. Severus examined Goyle's cauldron and pulled out what looked to be the crumpled remains of a firework.

The room fell quiet at the look on Severus' face. "Whoever threw this will be expelled when I find out who you are!" Severus whispered. "You are dismissed."

As the class filed out Emily and Draco were moving to collect their things. Emily could tell Severus was radiating anger. He hated when people so carelessly made a dangerous class more so.

"Sev…" Emily said looking over the black haired man. "It was Harry."

"Are you sure?" he said looking up from what he was writing.

"Yes, but please find something else to punish him for. I don't care if it's pointless, I know he deserves it but he thinks no one saw and I don't want him blaming me." He seemed to think for a moment before nodding his head. Emily gave the man a hug before her and Draco headed off to their next class.

A day later Emily heard that her brother had received a week's worth of detention from Severus. Weasley had been complaining loudly in the hallways about the unfairness of it for days after it happened. Emily could only think her brother deserved more than a week, Theo had received five nights of detention and he had never actually gotten his puffer-fish eyes into Harry's cauldron.

It was a full week after the potions accident that a notice was posted, causing a whole new kind of commotion.

"What's going on?" Emily asked Marcus when she noticed the people crowded around the Slytherin notice board.

"There is a new Dueling Club starting tonight," Marcus told her. "Shame it took something like this to start one though."

"A dueling club would be fun," Draco said spinning his wand through his fingers. "We need the practice, it's been a bit since we've sparred."

"So I guess we are going then..."

At eight o'clock that night Emily and Draco joined most of the school in the Great Hall for the Dueling Club. All the House tables had been removed from the hall, instead there was a large golden stage. As usual the hall was lit by thousands of floating candles and the velvety sky above.

"So who do you think is running the club?" Emily asked Draco.

"I don't know, I'm surprised Sev didn't tell us about it."

Just then Lockhart walked onto the stage earning a groan from Emily. The man was wearing bright purple robes and was followed by a very sour looking Severus. Emily rolled her eyes wondering how Severus got roped into this as Lockhart made a big show of calling attention to himself.

"I have been granted permission by Professor Dumbledore to begin a dueling club. Since I have proved my excellence, on many an occasion, in the art of defense I am here to train you all to defend yourself against an opponent. I would like you all to acknowledge my assistant Professor Snape," Lockhart announced gesturing to Severus.

"Uncle Sev looks like he is going to kill him," Draco whispered to Emily.

Emily covered her smirk with her hand trying not to burst into laughter watching Lockhart wildly gesture while he spoke and Severus' death glare aimed at the man.

"I have been told that Professor Snape knows a small amount about dueling and has agreed to help me demonstrate for all of you. Now, you need not fear, I promise your Potions Master will be relatively unharmed during this demonstration!"

"I don't think its Sev people should be worried about getting harmed," Emily commented.

Draco smirked, "If I was Lockhart I would run now."

Emily agreed, a smart person when faced with that glare from Severus would run away as quickly as possible.

Severus and Lockhart took their places on the stage facing each other. Lockhart made an exaggerated bow while Severus barely inclined his head. They then raised their wands and crossed their chest before swiftly bringing their wand arm down to their side. They turned walking a few paces away from each other before turning to face one another again.

"As you see we have appropriately acknowledged our opponent and now on the count of three we will cast a spell in an attempt to disarm the other. We are not trying to kill each other," Lockhart announced.

"Pity," Emily heard someone say behind her, causing her to smirk.

"One… Two… Three…"

Before Lockhart could even raise his wand Severus had cried "Expelliarmus", a bright flash of scarlet light erupted from his wand hitting Lockhart in the chest. Lockhart went flying off the stage slamming into the wall behind him, sliding down it he crumpled into a ball on the ground. Most of the guys around Emily cheered while the girls seemed to be worried about the man. Emily could care less if the man was alright and smirked at Severus who looked amused. Lockhart used the wall to help him get slowly to his feet. Once standing the man began primping himself. His hair seemed to be giving him the most trouble as it was standing on end. Severus may have put a little more power than was truly needed but it sure was amusing to Emily to see the man so out of sorts.

"Well that was our demonstration!" Lockhart said stumbling back to the golden platform. "What Professor Snape just showed you is called the Disarming Charm. I no longer have my wand… oh, Miss Brown thank you… it was a great idea on Professor Snape's part to show you that but it was very obvious as to what he was about to do. I could have easily stopped you if I had wanted but I thought that you all needed to see…"

"You have to give it to him, the man is persistent. He gets slammed into a wall yet he still stands up and pretends to be the better wizard," Blaise whispered gaining nods from the other Slytherins around them.

Lockhart took that moment to look at Severus and stopped talking once he noticed the murderous look on the Potion Master's face. "Anyway, let's move on! We are going to move among you and place you into pairs so you can practice."

Emily watched as Severus made his way towards Harry and his friends. Severus called Theo over to partner with her brother, it was obvious to Emily that this was just another punishment for their behavior in potions class. Weasley partnered with Finnigan and Granger was paired with Millicent Bulstrode. Draco and Emily stayed together and faced each other with matching smirks. They liked to duel each other under the instruction of Severus. Emily had learned that many of the Pureblood families taught their children basic dueling techniques from a young age. The Malfoys had made a point to start teaching Emily over the summer.

"I want you to face you partners and acknowledge them with a bow!" Lockhart called to the students.

Emily and Draco formally inclined their heads to each other before turning to take a few paces giving themselves more room. They fell into a fighting stance and waited for the count.

"On three I want you to disarm your opponent just as you saw Professor Snape perform a minute ago. Now you are to only disarm them nothing more! Wands ready… one… two –"

But Lockhart never got to three because at the call of two Theo's voice was heard yelling a spell through the hall. Emily turned to see Harry stumble a bit before steadying himself. Once he had fully recovered he pointed his wand at Theo and shouted 'Rictusempra'. The silvery light that left Harry's wand hit Theo and he doubled over grabbing his stomach, wheezing for air. Harry had hit him with a Tickling Charm. The Slytherin finally could no longer stand and fell to his knees. Theo who was gasping for breath was still somehow able to cast 'Tarantallegra' which hit Harry causing his legs to begin moving quickly out of his control.

Lockhart was trying to make his way through the crowd to the boys, yelling for them to stop. Severus scowled at the students and a path was promptly made so he could reach Harry and Theo. He raised his wand casting 'Finite Incantatem' on both boys. Harry's legs stopped moving and Theo stopped laughing which allowed him to stand back up.

Emily took in the scene surrounding her brother. Weasley had obviously tried to help but instead had hurt Finnigan with his broken wand. Granger who looked like she had tried to run to Harry's side was being held in a headlock by Millicent. Both girls' wands lay forgotten on the floor.

"Perhaps we should teach you to block spells," Lockhart said looking around the room. His eyes fell on Severus only to look away quickly. "I will pick a pair to come forward… Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Finch-Fletchley…"

"No, I do not believe that to be a good idea," Severus said calmly advancing back to the platform. "Longbottom has trouble casting the simplest of spells and Finch-Fletchley will be on his way to the hospital wing in a matter of seconds from the devastation. I suggest that we use Mr. Potter and Mr. Nott. They seem eager enough."

"Wonderful idea Professor!" Lockhart exclaimed motioning for the two boys to come to the center of the room. The students in the area backed up to give them enough space. Lockhart walked over to Harry while Severus walked up to Theo. Harry looked dismayed when Lockhart raised his wand waving it around a bit before dropping it. He blushed saying his wand was overexcited before backing away from Harry.

Severus smirked when Lockhart dropped his wand and bent forward to whisper into Theo's ear before retreating back towards the crowd as well.

"On the count of three," Lockhart said. "One… two… three!"

Theo was quick to call out "Serpensortia!" The room watched as a long black snake shot from the end of the Theo's wand. As soon as it hit the floor it raised its head ready to strike. People screamed and started backing away.

Severus made a move forward, "I will get rid of it, no one move."

"I will do it!" Lockhart called moving forward not wanting to be shown up. He waved his wand towards the snake but instead of vanishing the creature, it flew into the air and came crashing back down with a loud smack. The snake was angered poising itself to strike Finch-Fletchley. Emily quickly moved towards the snake without thinking.

" _ **It's okay little one. Come to me**_ ," she said bending down and holding out her arm.

The snake looked to her and hissed, " _ **Ssspeaker…**_ "

" _ **Yesss come to me**_ ," Emily kept her arm outstretched.

The snake looked back to the scared boy before slithering towards Emily and wrapping itself around her arm. Emily stood petting the snake with care. She looked around to see fear in the eyes of those around her. She turned to her brother who looked just as confused at the reaction of those around them as she was.

Emily felt Draco's hand on her back. "Come on we need to get out of here," he whispered guiding her to the doors of the Great Hall. Emily could feel Marcus right behind them. Draco directed her swiftly through the castle to the common room. Emily didn't understand why she felt a protective aura coming from Draco and Marcus.

"Guys what's going on?" Emily said still petting the snake who was hissing in contentment.

"You're a Parselmouth," Draco answered looking back towards the entrance briefly.

"Yes…"

"Little snake, you two should go to your room the students will start to come back and I am unsure of what their reactions will be," Marcus said urging them towards the dorms. When Emily and Draco reached Draco's room they both climbed on the bed as Emily let the snake coil itself on the blanket in front of her.

"Dray, what is the big deal with me speaking to snakes?"

"I don't care, but the school is not going to be so kind…"

"That is because…"

"Because it is looked on as a Dark quality, one indicative of a Dark witch or wizard."

The witch sighed as she kept stroking the head of the snake, "Lovely."

Emily rested her head on Draco's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.

"I'm going to name her Isis, after the Egyptian Goddess of magic," Emily told Draco after a few minutes of silence. "There is a legend that states that Isis conjured a snake to bite the God Ra to gain his secrets. It seems fitting to name her Isis when she was conjured to fight and brought to me by magic."

" _ **Do you like the name Isisss little one**_?"

" _ **Yesss sspeaker…**_ " the snake hissed.

" _ **Then that will be your name… I will take care of you from now on…**_ "

" _ **Thank you misstresss…**_ "

"She likes it," Emily smiled.

"I see. So, when did you find out you could speak to snakes? Can your brother do it too?" Draco reached out tentatively and ran a few fingers along the snake, when he didn't seem bothered by his touch he continued to stroke the animal with his friend.

"Yeah, Harry and I both can speak to them. We found out when we went to the zoo on Dudley's eleventh birthday. I kind of set it free in a fit of anger at Dudley."

Draco started to laugh and shook his head before resting it on Emily's. "Only you Em, only you."

The next day they woke to snow blanketing the grounds around Hogwarts and Professor Sprout having canceled all Herbology classes. She was busy putting socks and scarves on the Mandrakes and she didn't want the students there as it was a tricky endeavor, the Mandrakes needed to be handled with the upmost care so Creevey and Mrs. Norris could be revived.

Emily took the free time to be in the library. While she was searching for a book Emily noticed a bunch of Hufflepuff second years at a table close by. They didn't appear to actually be studying anything instead they were leaning close together and talking.

"I told Justin it would just be better to stay in the dorms when not in class. He is obviously going to be her next victim. I mean he knew this could happen… he did mention that he is a muggleborn to Harry and why wouldn't he tell his sister," said a stout boy.

"You really think Slytherin's heir is Emily Potter, Ernie?" a blond girl asked leaning further over her open book.

"Hannah she's in Slytherin and she's a Parselmouth. Name one person in history who could speak to snakes that wasn't considered Dark. Salazar Slytherin was called Serpent-tongue and we all know how he turned out."

Emily could hear them drop their voice before the boy named Ernie spoke again, "The wall said 'Enemies of the Heir, Beware'. You can explain away Filch everyone hates him but Creevey has been annoying the Potters all year. I heard he was on his way to the hospital wing to try and get a picture of Harry but Emily must have stopped him before he could get there."

"Sure she's in Slytherin but she doesn't seem Dark," Hannah said. "She did pick up the snake before it hurt anyone. Plus, her and Harry made You-Know-Who vanish. How could someone who does that be bad?"

"They were only babies and any normal person would have died. You would have to be very powerful in Dark Arts to be able to survive something like that. Maybe You-Know-Who was trying to get rid of the competition."

"So you think Harry is Dark too?"

"I don't know, they are siblings but perhaps she's threatening him. I mean you've all heard the stories how they survived and were marked but why can we only see Harry's scar?"

Emily had enough. She stepped out from where she was in the stacks clearing her throat as she glared daggers at the Hufflepuffs in front of her. They all froze and Ernie turned white. Fear was clearly written across their faces.

"Hello," Emily said calmly. "Why do you all look so terrified?"

All the Hufflepuffs turned to Ernie, looking at him to answer for them. "We aren't scared," he said though his voice was trembling.

"I see," Emily said turning to leave.

"You can trace my blood for nine generations of purity!" Ernie blurted out quickly.

Emily turned back around raising an eyebrow at the boy, "And I care for your blood status because?"

"I hear you hate the muggles you grew up with and that you live with the Malfoys now. The Malfoys care about status."

"I would love to watch you try and survive a day living with the Dursleys and walk away with feelings other than hate for them. As for the Malfoys they are a strong and honorable family."

"Everyone knows the Malfoys are as Dark as they come!"

Emily shook her head and laughed at the boy, "I'm sorry you are so blinded by prejudice, I thought Hufflepuffs were better than this."

With that Emily turned to leave. When she was close to the door she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to find the Hufflepuff fifth year that she thought was rather cute.

"I'm sorry, I overheard what they were saying and you are right, Hufflepuffs should be better than that."

"Thanks," Emily said not really knowing how to respond.

"I'm Cedric Diggory," he held out his hand to her with a smile.

"Emily Potter," she said shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well. Where are you headed?" he asked as they walked out of the library.

"I actually need to go pick up my books for my next class," she said pointing down the corridor she needed to take.

"I'm heading the other way but um… maybe we can hang out sometime."

"Yeah sure," Emily responded mentally hitting herself for her lame answer. Cedric waved to her smiling as he took off down the corridor.

Emily turned around and almost ran directly into Hagrid, who was moving quite quickly towards her.

"All righ' there Em?" Hagrid asked beaming at her. Emily took in Hagrid's appearance he was wearing his heavy fur jacket and had a dead rooster in one of his hands.

"Hi Hagrid, what are you doing with the rooster?" she said pointing to the bird.

"It's the second one I've found dead this term," he told her. "Something is killin' 'em so I am going ter get the Headmaster's permission ter put a charm on the coop."

"Oh, that's too bad," she said glancing down the hallway. "I'm sorry Hagrid but I really need to run and grab my books for my next class."

"Okay, hurry along and have a good day!"

"Thanks Hagrid, you too," Emily said heading back off down the corridor. Deciding she needed to hurry she took a passageway she knew of and ran down it. When she exited she turned a corner and tripped. She moved to stand to see what she tripped over and froze. Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the ground unmoving and Sir Nicolas was floating unresponsive next to him. Emily noticed that Nicolas was black and smoky instead of white and partially transparent. Both of their faces held expressions of shock.

Emily decided she needed to get Severus but before she could move Peeves came flying out of a door to her right. He flew over and patted her head. "What is dear Emmy doing?" he asked before his eyes caught sight of Finch-Fletchley and Nicolas. "ATTACK! NO GHOSTIE OR GHOULIE IS SAFE! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN THERE'S BEEN AN ATTACK!"

It took seconds for the corridor to become filled with students and teachers after Peeves' exclamation. It was a bit of chaos until Professor McGonagall came setting off a bang with her wand. She quickly sent everyone back to their classes and forced Peeves who was singing a song about Emily killing off students to leave.

Professor Flitwick conjured a stretcher to carry Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing while Professor McGonagall instructed Emily to follow her, which she did silently. Emily was led to a stone gargoyle where Professor McGonagall proclaimed, "lemon drop" before the gargoyle jumped aside and the wall moved creating an archway. Through the archway was a spiral staircase that was spinning slowly upwards. Emily and Professor McGonagall stepped onto the stairs slowly making their way up as the archway closed behind them. At the top they stopped in front of a large wooden door with a Griffin knocker. For the first time Emily was outside of Dumbledore's office.


	27. The Polyjuice Potion

**27**

 **The Polyjuice Potion**

When the staircase stopped moving Emily and Professor McGonagall stepped off the top step and approached the wooden door. At Professor McGonagall's knock the door opened silently on its own. Emily was motioned into the room and told to wait as Professor McGonagall turned to leave the office.

As Emily moved further into the room she couldn't help but be impressed by it. The few teachers' offices she had been in could not compare to Dumbledore's. It was a circular room, making Emily believe that they were in one of the many towers within the castle. There were tall ebony bookshelves that reminded her of Lucius's study back at the manor, unlike the manor though some of the shelves housed odd silver instruments that spun and released puffs of smoke, instead of old tomes. There was a large stone fireplace to one side and the portions of wall that were not covered by bookshelves held portraits of the old headmasters and headmistresses who looked to be sleeping.

In front of her was a large claw-footed desk. As she moved towards it she notice that the Sorting Hat was sitting on a self just off to the side. She hesitated for a moment before making her way towards the hat. It looked the same as it had when it declared her a Slytherin and when she had seen it earlier that year at the sorting ceremony. She reached out her hand to touch it. The magic coming from the object was different than she had ever felt before, it was interesting to get to actually study the feel of it up close.There were four different magics imbedded into the object yet at the same time the hat had one magical signature. The hat like Hogwarts felt alive and the young witch was awed at the effort of the founders. Four people had put equal amounts of magic and power into an ordinary hat to create a form of semi consciousness.

Just then Emily heard an odd choking sound and turned to find a decrepit looking bird perched on a golden stand. He looked to have lost most of its feathers and was making a gagging noise. Suddenly it burst into flames causing Emily to back up. When the flames were gone all that was left was a smoldering pile of ash. At that moment the door behind Emily opened as Professor Dumbledore walked in.

"Professor," Emily said looking at the somber headmaster. "Is this a Phoenix? He just caught fire…"

Dumbledore smiled at her as he joined her by the perch. "Yes, Fawkes is my familiar. He has been close to his Burning Day for a week now, I told him he needed to hurry and get it over with soon, he had been looking awful for days."

Emily smirked turning to look back at the ashes, there was now a small wrinkled bird poking its head out of them.

"I would love to see him when he is matured again," Emily said still observing the now tiny bird. She carefully reached out and ran her finger along its head earning what seemed to be a chirp of approval from the creature.

"He is quite a handsomePhoenix, his plumage is red and gold most of the time."

"Very Gryffindor."

Dumbledore laughed, "Yes Severus does mention that every time he sees Fawkes as well. They are wonderfully faithful pets though and their tears have strong healing powers."

"I read that their healing powers are only effective if they feel a bond with the person they are saving. It is the connection to the person who is injured that spurs the Phoenix to have tears."

"You are very knowledgeable my dear," Dumbledore said as he seated himself in the tall chair behind his desk.

Dumbledore motioned for Emily to take a seat across from him when the door to the office burst open. Emily watched as Hagrid took large quick steps towards them.

"I swear it wasn't her! I was talkin' ter her just seconds before they were found!" Hagrid exclaimed waving his hands around wildly as he talked. "She had no time, we were too far away…"

Dumbledore tried to stop Hagrid's rant but he wasn't stopping. Finally Dumbledore raised his voice calling out to Hagrid who stilled at hearing the headmaster's tone. "Calm yourself Hagrid there is no need to be so worked up. I do not believe Emily hurt anyone, why don't you go wait outside…"

"Oh right, sorry 'bout that, I'll just wait till yer done," Hagrid nodded and quickly lumbered back out of the office.

"Now Emily, I do not believe you to be the person that is causing these attacks but you have been at the site of two of the three attacks. Is there anything you can tell me that would be significant?"

Emily looked at the headmaster and was unsure of what to say. She felt comfortable telling Severus things but there were few adults beside him that she felt comfortable talking to. She wasn't sure if she felt she could tell Dumbledore. Talking to him about random things was easy but admitting to some of the strange things she had encountered already this year was a different matter. Then again hadn't he helped Harry when she had been honest with him the year before… But this was different her mind argued, she had heard voices that chilled her to the bone, but Draco couldn't hear them and then there was Dobby the elf, Emily just didn't feel comfortable sharing her thoughts with an adult who wasn't Severus right now.

"No, I'm sorry Professor there isn't anything to tell right now."

If the attack on the Creevey boy had caused some worry, the news of the double attack sent the school into sheer panic. It seemed that people were more afraid that something could affect a ghost then what had happened to Finch-Fletchley. How could something have the power to affect a being that was already dead? The few brave people who had previously wanted to stay for Christmas break were now clamoring to go home.

Though Emily never let her irritation show on her face, always wearing a mask of indifference in the hallways, she couldn't wait for everyone to leave. She had become thoroughly annoyed by the pointing and hushed whispers as she walked through the corridors. People, though happy to gossip and point at her, were careful not to get too close to her afraid she may attack them. On the other hand, Emily was extremely grateful for the comedic relief that Fred and George brought her. They made a point to mock the whole situation often parading in front of Emily like bodyguards shouting, "Clear a path for the Heir of Slytherin, her royally evil highness is coming through…"

One day in the halls they had gone as far to crown her the 'Queen of Evil' having made her a crown out of snakes. It was an amazing bit of magic on the pairs' part and Emily was more than willing to play along with the twins' antics as she sat upon a thrown and glared at the passersby for a few minutes before having to run off to her next class.

Percy had not been so overjoyed by his brothers' behavior. He scowled at them and attempted to drag them off to the side one day in the halls. "This is not one of your joking matters," he had snapped at them.

"Oh do move, Percy," said Fred not fazed by his brother in the least. "Emily is in a rush."

"Quite right, she is off to the Chamber of Secrets to sit upon her throne and dine with her fanged servants," George added.

Like her brother Percy, Ginny Weasley seemed to be having a hard time with Fred and George's antics. She would yell at them to stop and run off crying when she noticed one of the twins attempting to see if a talisman worked against Emily or conversed loudly with her about who they thought she should attack next.

Emily took comfort in the fact that her friends seemed to find her being evil a ludicrous notion. She could always count on Fred and George to cheer her up.

As term ended Emily was enjoying the silence that came with it. The castle was so much more peaceful now that almost everyone had vacated the school. Theo, Crabbe and Goyle spent most of their time just talking in the common room and didn't bother Emily or Draco nearly as much as they had expected them to.

Emily woke up early on Christmas morning to Draco shaking her. Groaning she rolled over pulling the covers over her head. Draco was persistent though ducking under the covers to start tickling her. Finally panting Emily called out that she was up and the assault ended. Stretching she sat up to see two large piles at the end of the bed.

"Happy Christmas!" Draco beamed.

"Happy Christmas Dray…" Emily said yawning. She really needed some coffee, maybe if she learned the name of one of the elves they would be willing to bring her coffee in the mornings. She decided she would have to make a stop by the kitchens later and see if that could be worked out.

Emily and Draco levitated the piles of presents closer so they could open them. The first gift Emily opened was from Draco. He had given her a new charm that was in the shape of a wing and had small diamonds going along the edge. She loved it and gave her best friend a hug.

"It almost makes up for you tickling me this morning," she teased.

Emily went back to opening her gifts. Narcissa had sent her a few new outfits while Lucius had given her a pair of dangling yellow cushion cut diamond earrings. From Severus she received a few potions books he knew she wanted and a note saying that he had bought a few things for Isis, who was currently living in his quarters because students were not allowed to have snakes for pets. Emily was in love with the Marc Jacobs tote bag that Blaise had sent her. He had it charmed to be feather light so she could carry some of her heavier books around with ease. Marcus as always sent her something Quidditch related, this time it was a broom cover. It was green and had a black snake on it that wore a gold crown. Fred and George had charmed a dark green V-neck t-shirt for her, the front read 'BEWARE' while the back read 'I'm Slytherin's Heir'. Draco and Emily had a hard time recovering from their laughter after that.

Emily had been puzzled when she opened a gift from Cedric Diggory. They had talked briefly a few more times since the day they met in the library but she didn't think that meant he thought her someone close enough to send a gift to. The gift was simple but it was nice, he had sent her a box of dark chocolate and French silk truffles. They were her favorite, she often owl ordered for them since she was not allowed into Hogsmead yet. She was unsure how he had known to get them.

Emily pulled the last package towards her opening the parchment that was attached to it first.

 _Em,_

 _You will be glad to know that people are still talking about the card you sent me for my birthday. Even though I swear I am still finding confetti around the site, I must admit I am extremely impressed by your spell crafting._ __

 _I am still in Egypt celebrating Christmas with the other members of my team. We fell a bit behind schedule after the incident I told you about with Brian. He still hasn't recovered so we are trying to make up for being down a person. I am sure my mother isn't happy about me being away for another Christmas but it's part of the job. I hope you are enjoying your Christmas with Draco. You two have probably spent a lot of your free time brewing potions but throw at least one snow ball for me since I am stuck in a desert!_

 _Happy Christmas_

 _Bill_ __

Emily smiled quickly taring the wrapping off her gift to find a large blue leather box. She opened it and inside was a beautiful rose gold bow necklace from which a pear shaped black diamond hung. It was accompanied by a set of rose gold earrings. The witch was in awe of the beautiful gift and was quick to have Draco help her put it on.

 **O0o0o0O**

It would be quite the task to not enjoy a Christmas dinner at Hogwarts. As always there were a dozen magnificently decorated trees around the Great Hall and mistletoe hung in various places around the room. Snow fell softly from the enchanted night sky above them but instead of making things wet and accumulating, it was dry, disappearing the second it came in contact with an object or person. Dumbledore made sure to get everyone to sing his favorite carols and Emily couldn't help but smirk when she noticed the Weasley twins had charmed Percy's prefect badge to read 'pinhead'.

Emily watched as Harry and Weasley were ushered out of the Great Hall quickly by Granger the second they finished their desserts. She wondered what had them so excited but figured perhaps they had gotten a fun gift they wanted to use together.

"Hey Em, do you want to go check on the potion we left brewing?" Draco asked pulling Emily from her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah we probably should," the witch answered casting a tempus. "It should be removed from the heat in about ten minutes." Emily and Draco swept out of the Great Hall making their way down to the brewing room. On their way to it they had to hide briefly in an alcove as they watched Percy and a Ravenclaw prefect awkwardly making out and eventually stumbling into a storage cupboard.

"I can't believe Percy the Prefect has it in him," Emily said as the entered their brewing room. "He is always on Fred and George about following the rules…"

"And yet here he is hiding in the dungeons making out with the Clearwater girl," Draco smirked.

"It will be amusing to see what the twins do when they find out," Emily said as she ladled the potion into vials before handing them to Draco to seal.

"You aren't going to tell them?"

"Where is the fun in that?"

As Emily and Draco were heading back to the common room they noticed Crabbe and Goyle talking to Percy but something was off. As they got closer Emily noticed their magical signatures were wrong. Emily suddenly realized what was going on and told Draco to follow her lead.

"Crabbe, Goyle, what are you doing out here still?" Emily asked approaching the small group.

"Have you been in the Great Hall all this time?" Draco added even though he was still a bit confused as to why Emily was approaching them, normally they would leave the pair to their own devices but he would play along since she had asked. He was sure she would fill him in on her plan later.

"Are they bothering you Percy? We will take them off your hands," Emily said patting the pair on the shoulder.

Seeing Percy nod at her Emily motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to follow her into the common room. Theo was sitting by the fire when they entered.

"There they are! Where were you two?" Theo asked standing as the other approached him.

"We found them in the hallway bugging the Weasley Prefect," Emily said taking a seat on the sofa. Draco moved to sit next to Emily, throwing her a curious glance only to get a slight nod in the negative telling him to be patient. Theo motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to sit on the couch opposite Emily and Draco, taking one of the tall wingback chairs for himself.

"Well now that you are here, I think you will all get a laugh out of what my father just sent me," Theo told them pulling out a clipping from the Daily Prophet. "Turns out that they finally decided to fine the Weasley family. It was only for fifty galleons and their father refused to comment of course but serves them right."

Emily watched as Crabbe and Goyle both looked uncomfortable at hearing the news. Theo looked at them waiting for their laughter, when it didn't come he demanded to know Crabbe and Goyle's thoughts on the matter. Both seemed to force laughter instead of their usual little snickers but Theo didn't seem to notice.

"My father says that Arthur loves muggles so much that he should snap his wand and live among them," sneered Theo. "How they can call themselves purebloods and be proud of themselves I will never know. If they are anything at all they are a bunch of blood traitors."

Emily noticed Crabbe's facial expression contort. Goyle merely looked stunned at the news.

"Are you alright Crabbe?" the witch inquired.

"His stomach hurts," Goyle responded quickly, elbowing the boy in his side.

"You should go to the hospital wing then and when you're there see if you can't land a good kick to the mudbloods." Emily coughed in warning to Theo, who turned to her waving his hand in an attempt to show he understood before quickly turning his attention back to his bodyguards. "This place is a mess with the way Dumbledore runs it. I mean what self-respecting pureblood allows muggleborns to attend Hogwarts? At least the heir is here, carrying out Slytherin's noble cause."

"Theo…" Emily warned.

"What? I still can't believe people think you are the heir! I just want to know who it is…" Theo ranted. Emily knew most of Slytherin was divided in their thoughts of Emily being the heir. Some seemed to worship her, thinking she was carrying out some wonderful deed while the others were of the mind that it didn't matter and acted like nothing had changed. Theo was of the opinion it couldn't possibly be her because her mother had been a muggleborn.

Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be shocked at this announcement. Goyle spoke up after taking one look at Crabbe, "You must have an idea at least…"

"How many times must I tell you both that I have no idea who it is," Theo said obviously frustrated. "All my father will tell me is that the last time the Chamber was opened a mud-" Emily coughed, "muggleborn was killed and that was fifty years ago. It is bound to happen again, I wonder who it will be this time. Possibly Granger…"

Emily observed Crabbe's fists tighten at the mention of the bushy haired witch. Goyle seemed to shoot a warning look at him before turning to look at Theo, "Surely you know who opened it last time…"

"All I know is that he was expelled and his wand was snapped. My father didn't say anything else about it," Theo shrugged and stood up. "I'm supposed to just keep quiet and not get in the way but it isn't fair! I know I shouldn't complain, father is under a lot of stress and the Ministry is looking for ways to raid the manor for Dark Objects."

Theo was staring into the fire so he missed what Emily and Draco's eyes saw. Crabbe's hair was starting to turn red and Goyle's was becoming wilder and darkening to black. They pointed at each other before jumping up and sprinting out of the common room yelling about getting medicine for Crabbe's stomach. Theo seemed annoyed but rolled his eyes bidding Emily and Draco goodnight to go write to his father.

Emily and Draco made their way silently back to Draco's room and waited until they were both comfortable on the bed before talking. "So do you want to tell me why Crabbe and Goyle were acting so weird and why their hair was changing colors…" Draco asked raising an eyebrow at his best friend.

"It was Harry and his friend Weasley," Emily answered shaking her head.

"And how did they have the means to pull that off?"

"I might have found where they were brewing Polyjuice Potion in Myrtle's bathroom…"

Draco sighed and brought his hand up to rub his temple, "Let me guess when you went for your weekly visit to the ghost you made sure the potion was brewing correctly so they didn't hurt themselves." Emily nodded. "Okay, so then can you tell me why you did that instead of getting rid of it…"

"At first I didn't know what it was, then I was curious and tonight I think we can conclude that it was their personal curiosity that made them brew it. They obviously wanted information on the Chamber of Secrets and thought Theo had it, why else would they pose as his bodyguards."

"Yes well, let's just hope they don't have a false sense of confidence and go brewing other dangerous potions on their own now."

Emily blushed she hadn't thought of that. As she went to bed that night she just hoped that Harry and his friends were done searching for clues and another adventure. Everything about the Chamber of Secrets seemed to point to something, dare she think, more dangerous than last year's adventure.


	28. Secret Diary and A Visit from Lucius

**28**

 **The Secret Diary and a Visit from Lucius**

For several weeks after Christmas Granger was in the hospital wing. Emily was unsure what put her there but she had a feeling it had to do with the Polyjuice Potion her brother and Weasley had used to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle. Originally she thought Granger had not joined them because their only other options were to try and impersonate her and Draco and the likelihood of that happening was very minimal at best. She had gone to the hospital wing to check on the girl but all she was told was that she wasn't allowed visitors at the time and her bed had been curtained off so no one could see her. The only way Emily knew to have an imperfect transformation with a good batch of Polyjuice was to use animal hair but they would have been more careful than that… she hoped.

Emily noticed that Granger was released in early February. She looked happy to be out of the hospital wing and eager to be back in her classes. Emily couldn't blame her brother's bushy haired best friend, if she had been in the hospital wing for a month she would have gone barmy and demanded to be released.

The sun was finally beginning to shine again on the Hogwarts grounds. With the sun came a hopeful outlook by many of the students and staff. The attacks on students had seemingly stopped and the Mandrakes were entering their 'teenage' phase. They had become moody and secretive, a sure sign that they were growing.

"Mrs. Norris will be returned to you soon," Professor Sprout placated Filch one afternoon. "We can repot them as soon as their acne clears and shortly after that we can cut them up so Severus can brew the Draught."

While most people were happy to accept the new calm, Emily was actually curious as to why the attacks had stopped. With everyone blaming her she thought that the Heir of Slytherin would continue opening the chamber. She supposed someone had come too close to discovering the person's secret and they were forced to stop for a time to lessen suspicion. Whatever the reason Emily highly doubted the attacks were truly over. If ridding the school of muggleborns was their task they had yet to really accomplish anything. A couple of petrified students and a cat was no great success.

Emily rolled her eyes as the ever pompous Gilderoy Lockhart puffed out his chest telling everyone who was in ear shot how the attacks had stopped because of him. He had boasted to Professor McGonagall one day when dropping the Gryffindors at Transfiguration before taking the Slytherins to the library for their down period.

"There is no need to worry further Minerva," Professor McGonagall's lips tightened at hearing her name come from the man. "The culprit knew I was getting close to discovering their little secret. They know they would never stand a chance against me. Dumbledore did right by hiring me this year, I may have just saved us all."

As he strode towards the library with the Slytherin second years in tow he began talking to himself. "This school needs a bit of cheer and color… hmm… Oh I know just the thing to lift everyone's spirits… I best not tell you anything more…" he trailed off down the wrong corridor leaving the Slytherin second years alone looking at each other wondering who he was talking to before they continued on to the library by themselves.

Lockhart's version of lifting everyone's spirits came on February the Fourteenth, Valentine's Day. Emily was exhausted as she usually tended to be in the mornings. When she entered the Great Hall for breakfast the young witch paused, grabbing Draco's arm suddenly awake as she looked around the hall. Everything was pink. Garlands of pink flowers hung down the walls and pink heart shaped confetti fell from the enchanted ceiling piling onto the tables and floor. The tables had been covered in large pink table clothes and the torches on the walls had large pink bows tied to them. Emily and Draco moved to the Slytherin table as they slowly continued to take in their surroundings.

"What is with all the confetti?" Emily grumbled. "I want coffee not confetti with a side of coffee!" Emily pulled out her travel mug and filled it quickly making sure no confetti got in her cup before putting the lid back on it.

"I have never seen so much pink in my life," Draco sneered as he tried to get the confetti out of his food.

Emily nodded in agreement, "I get that it's Valentine's Day but I think this is going way overboard."

Just then the post came. Apollo, Hermes and an owl she didn't know landed in front of her each carrying a package. She opened the package from the owl she didn't know only after checking it like Lucius taught her.

 _Emily_

 _Happy Valentine's Day_

 _Cedric_

Emily opened the gift and found pink sugar quills along with a box of dark chocolate truffles. She smiled scanning the Hufflepuff table till her eyes landed on the fifth year, waving to him she mouthed a 'thank you'. He smiled and nodded in welcome to her. Moving on to her next gift she unburdened Hermes handing one of the packages to Draco while offering Hermes and Apollo her juice and bacon.

 _Princess,_

 _We hope all is well with you and Draco. Happy Valentine's Day._

 _We miss you greatly,_

 _Lucius_

Emily opened the gift to find a pair of amethyst teardrop earrings. Smiling she turned to show Draco who in turn showed her his new pocket watch from Narcissa.

She moved her attention back to the package Apollo brought and opened the letter.

 _Em,_

 _I know I sent you a letter a few days ago but I figured since I received your gift early I would send mine back now with Apollo. Hopefully it makes it on time._

 _Happy Valentine's Day_

 _Bill_

Emily smiled as she opened her gift to find muggle conversation heart candies and a book that looked quite old titled _**Rituals of Binding**_. She wondered how Bill had come across the muggle candy she had seen many of her classmates in muggle school exchange.As she flipped through the book she noticed it was indeed very old and was about the many binding rituals of ancient magical cultures and the importance of runes in each ritual.

Emily was pulled from looking through the book as Lockhart stood shouting, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"I just want to thank all of the wonderful people who sent me Valentine cards, so far I have received forty-six!" Lockhart declared. "I have put together quite the treat for you all today!" Emily took in the looks of the Professors behind Lockhart. Professor McGonagall's lips were barely visible as she tried to appear as if she wasn't annoyed with the crazed man in bright pink robes. Severus looked as if it was his dearest hope that his glare could kill the man before them.

Emily's head turned to the doors as a bunch of grumpy dwarves walked into the hall dressed in white pants with golden wings attached to their backs. "These are our love-carrying cupids for today!" Lockhart said motioning to the dwarves. "They will be going around the school and delivering any Valentine you give to them! I don't want your fun to stop just there, we have many talented people on the staff! Professor Flitwick could teach you an Entrancing Enchantment or Professor Snape could whip up a love potion!"

Professor Flitwick let his head fall into his hands hiding his face from the view of the students. Severus on the other hand turned his glare to the students as if to let them all know that the first person to ask about a Love Potion would be scrubbing cauldrons in his dungeons for life.

All day long the 'cupids' interrupted classes and tracked people down in the hallways to deliver Valentine greetings. Most of the Slytherins sent them as a joke finding it funny to see the receiver's embarrassment. Every 'cupid' that came towards Emily seemed to find itself distracted by a puff of smoke with Emily nowhere in sight when it cleared. She was certain her disappearance from Transfiguration would earn her a detention but it never came. Draco assured her McGonagall had a smirk on her face at the sight of the stumbling cupid. In the end the teacher was probably just impressed by the young witch's ability to avoid Lockhart's poor attempt at cheering the students up.

Later in the afternoon after evading another 'cupid' she found herself close to the Charms corridor where there seemed to be a large group of people gathered. She maneuvered her way to the front of the crowd and watched as her brother's bag was ripped open by a determined 'cupid'.

"Excuse me I'm a Prefect," Emily heard Percy say as he pushed his way to see what was causing the commotion. Emily watched as the dwarf forced her brother to stay on the ground singing a rather horrible poem relating his eyes to pickled toads and his hair to a blackboard. Emily took pity on her brother who no doubt was hounded by many fangirls trying to send him Valentines. He was quite cute and she had seen many girls drooling after him.

Emily moved forward to help her brother fix his bag and pick up all his books as Percy dispersed the crowd that had gathered.

"What's this?" Emily heard Theo say. She turned to see Theo holding a leather book that looked to be a diary.

"Give it back," Harry said holding out his hand. Emily heard a gasp and looked over to see it had come from Ginny Weasley, the girl had a look of fear on her face as she looked between the diary and Harry.

Emily stared at the girl curiously before turning to tell Theo to drop the diary, but before she could her brother cast an Expelliarmus at Theo making the diary fly towards Emily who caught it. She immediately wanted to drop it the second it touched her hand.

She stared at it terrified until she heard Theo sneer "I don't think he liked your Valentine little Weasel!" before storming away.

Ginny looked to Emily who was holding the diary before bursting into tears and running off. Emily heard Harry clear his throat and turned to look at him.

"Can I have that back," he said pointing to the diary.

"Harry I…" but she didn't get to finish the sentence.

"I really need to get to class," he said quickly.

Emily noticed he looked quite embarrassed and just wanted to get out of there so she handed him the diary. The relief she felt the second the book was out of her hands was immediate and she wasn't sure what to make of it all. She saw Weasley helping Harry so she turned heading off quickly to find Draco and get to the common room.

Emily put the diary from her mind and before she knew it the Easter holidays were upon her. Severus had instructed the second years that during this time they were to sign up for the classes they would be taking in their third year.

"Can I give up Defense Against the Dark Arts," Emily grumbled as she looked over her sheet at breakfast one morning.

"Sorry little Snake but you can't drop core subjects," Marcus chuckled across from her.

"But both teachers have been pointless. Lockhart made us write a sonnet about his bravery for homework last night," Emily said as she sipped her coffee.

"We had to write something similar," Marcus told her. "Hang in there, at least you have the Malfoys to make sure you don't fall behind."

Emily had to agree, as she started to eat her blueberry muffin, she was far luckier than most. Lucius and Severus would never let her and Draco fall behind in defense. She knew there was a reason they were so determined to have them skilled in defending themselves but they had yet to tell them, saying they had to wait until their minds were completely safe.

Emily, knowing that the classes she chose would affect her chances at her future career, had written to Bill to find out the requirements to be a Curse Breaker. From all of his letters she had become enthralled with the idea of becoming a Curse Breaker. Working on tombs in distant lands sounded like something she would immensely enjoy.

In the end Emily and Draco both signed up for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Draco also convinced Emily to sign up for Care of Magical Creatures with him so he could be close to Blaise. Emily knew her blonde best friend was crushing on the Italian born wizard. She couldn't help but smirk when he tried to tell her his reasoning for taking the class.

"It's good to have knowledge of magical creatures," he told her for the fifth time. "And I'm sure dad will be glad to know we are taking on three classes instead of just two like most people."

"I get it Dray, you really need to stop trying to convince me to sign up. I will take it but please just admit it's because there's a cute little Italian wizard who signed up for it," Emily remarked laughing as Draco started to stammer.

Emily woke the morning of the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff feeling off. She wasn't sure what was bothering her but she put it out of her mind as she got ready, joining Draco to head to breakfast. Looking out the windows in the Great Hall she could tell the day was going to be bright and the conditions were great for a good game of Quidditch.

As they left lunch that afternoon Emily and Draco headed to the staircases to make their way back to the dorms to grab a few things when she heard it.

" _ **So hungry… must kill… I will rip them… tear them…**_ "

"Em, come on if you want to watch the match we need to go grab the binoculars and get to the pitch," Draco said nudging Emily gently.

"What… Oh right," she turned to her best friend following him away from the voice.

As they walked Emily started running things through in her mind, the last time she had heard the voice there had been an attack. Why was she hearing this voice? It was obvious Draco hadn't heard anything. Emily decided not to think on it, there were just too many questions and she wanted to enjoy the match today.

Emily and Draco met in the dorm hallway, after running to their rooms, to head to the game. They both stopped, noticing that the entire Slytherin House seemed to be congregating in the common room as more and more people piled in and took seats as if waiting for something. Emily pulled Draco with her as she moved over to Marcus who she knew never missed a Quidditch match because it was a perfect opportunity to watch the competition.

"What's going on?" Emily asked the sixth year.

"The match was canceled. Everyone was told to make their way to their common rooms and await further instructions from the Head of House," he told her edging himself closer to the pair. Emily got the feeling he was attempting to shield her slightly. "Just in case **,"** he whispered proving the witch's thoughts correct.

Just then Severus entered the room and everyone fell silent. He asked the Prefects to make sure no one was missing before they could begin. The prefects stood and took role of students by their year. After it had been announced that everyone was indeed present Severus nodded his head and stepped forward to address the room.

"There has been another attack. This time a second year Gryffindor and a sixth year Ravenclaw were the victims. Both have been petrified and moved to the hospital wing. Due to this recent attack further steps must be taken to maintain your safety. Curfew will now be at six o'clock each evening. Every class you attend, you will be escorted to by a teacher. Quidditch has been postponed until further notice as has all evening activities. Are there any questions?"

The room was dead silent, no one seemed to be able to even speak words of outrage at the canceling of everything but classes. Emily was shocked. She could tell that the teachers were rattled if they were becoming this paranoid. Severus spoke again as the silence continued. "If we cannot find the culprit the school may very well be closed. I urge you all to think on your actions and come to me if you know anything. I ask that you remain in the common room now and enjoy what you can here."

With that as a dismissal everyone started to move and break off into groups. Severus approached Emily and Draco instead of leaving. "I want you both to come with me," he said quietly. Marcus nodded his head and patted Emily's shoulder as he left, confident they were in good hands now.

Emily and Draco nodded following him from the Slytherin common room into his quarters. "You both can get comfortable. Lucius has informed me he will be at the castle soon for business and would like to see both of you."

They nodded Draco taking a place on the couch after picking out a book while Emily moved to sit by the hearth where Isis was curled up on her pillow.

"Sev," Emily said as she petted Isis's scales. "Who was the Gryffindor that was petrified?"

"Hermione Granger," he said not looking up from his grading. Emily's thoughts turned to her brother who was probably worried for his friend right now. Emily knew that Harry's curiosity was going to get the better of him now that Granger had been affected. Hopefully he was safe, with all the precautions now in place she doubted she would be able to see much of him to keep an eye on him. Severus would no doubt be watching Emily and Draco closely. Maybe she could get Fred and George to watch over him.

It was a few hours later before there was a knock at the portrait and Lucius was led into the room by Severus. He looked tired as he entered but he smiled when Emily and Draco both moved to embrace him.

"I've missed you both so much," he told them as he hugged them tightly to himself.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" Draco asked after they were all comfortable on the couch with Lucius in between the two second years. Severus seated himself in his usual chair by the fire.

"The Governors elected that Dumbledore needed to step aside for the time being, it was my duty as the Head of the Governors to escort him from the premises until further notice." Lucius answered his son, though he seemed to be trying to communicate something to Severus with his eyes.

"Why would they want Dumbledore to step down? What is going on?" Emily said looking between Lucius and Severus.

"With the latest attack people outside of the school are getting worried. The fact alone that the attacks are continuing and how late in the year it is tells us that something needs to be done. Edmund offered that we suspend Dumbledore and I had no choice but to agree with him."

That confused Emily greatly, why would the Malfoy Lord have to agree with Edmund Nott? She supposed this was all part of the secret that they were planning on telling Emily and Draco but right now was probably not the best time to pry.

"They've taken Hagrid as well," Lucius added as a side note.

"Why would they take him?" Draco asked his father. "He's just the Gamekeeper."

"He was accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets the last time these events occurred. Fudge wanted to be seen doing something as well and has moved him to Azkaban in hopes that it will appease the parents."

"But if he truly opened the Chamber last time Dumbledore would never let Hagrid work here," Emily thought aloud.

"Yes, but I never said that Fudge was doing it because he was truly guilty. There are a few people held in the walls of Azkaban that are not guilty of their crimes. Now tell me all about your classes," Lucius said.

With that Emily knew that topic of conversation was closed for now. They spent the next hour telling Lucius about their classes and Emily introduced him to Isis. When it was time for him to leave Severus escorted Emily and Draco back to the common room. That night as Emily tried to fall asleep she was plague by many questions to which she had no answers. It took her quite a while to fall into a fitful sleep.


	29. Aragog

**29**

 **Aragog**

Flowers were in full bloom and the lake shown a bright blue as summer crept across the grounds of Hogwarts. Of course there was something missing in the picture it all created and that was Hagrid the loveable gamekeeper. Usually you could see him and Fang wandering around the grounds getting various tasks done but right now he was nowhere to be found as the Minister for Magic had moved him to Azkaban in hopes to be seen doing something in the unrest the opening of the Chamber of Secrets had caused the students and parents alike. Fear had stricken the castle and the restrictions kept growing. Anyone, who was not in need of Madam Pomfrey's care, was banned from entering the hospital wing. You could not visit your friends when they were sick nor could you even stand by their bed while she fixed a cut or healed a broken bone.

With Dumbledore gone constant fear ran through the castle, it was easy to miss the sun that was shining through the windows. The joy and happiness that usually echoed down the stone corridors didn't hold the warmth it once had. Due to the constant escorting of students by the staff even Fred and George had been unable to set off pranks to lighten the mood.

During this time, Emily had become quite annoyed with one Theodore Nott. Unlike most students who were fearful of the entire situation he seemed to revel in it. He was quite vocal of his opinions especially two weeks after Dumbledore's suspension in potions class.

"You know my father had a part in removing Dumbledore," he boasted loudly before class started. "He believed he was out of touch with the needs of proper magical teaching. Hopefully now the governors can appoint a decent headmaster. We need someone who understands that the Chamber of Secrets should remain open. There is no way McGonagall can last in the position for much longer…"

Theo trailed off as Severus swept into the room towards his desk in the front of the class.

"Professor Snape," Theo said calling attention to himself. "You should apply to be the new headmaster!"

"There is no need Mr. Nott," Severus replied withholding his distaste for the suggestion. "Professor Dumbledore will no doubt be back with us soon as he has not been released from his contract only suspended."

"I'm sure all of us that have parents on the board would be more than happy to tell our parents that you are clearly the best teacher here if you apply!" Theo said looking towards Emily and Draco who just smiled tightly and nodded their heads. They both knew Severus had no dreams to become the next Headmaster. If Severus was to leave his teaching position he would most likely take up residence at the Manor in the potions lab where he worked on a lot of his experiments.

At the end of the lesson Theo decided to try Emily's patience even more commenting that it was a pity Granger hadn't been killed. She knew he said it to get a rise out of Harry and Weasley which worked because both boys looked livid. Harry seemed to be able to control himself enough to hold back Weasley who kept trying to free himself from his friend's grasp.

"Would you all stop dawdling. I need to walk you to your next class and you are all wasting my time," Severus drawled.

The class was quick to get their things together before lining up at the door. Once Severus had dropped the Gryffindors off at Herbology he took the Slytherins to the library reminding them that Lockhart would be picking them up for Defense before swiftly taking his leave back to the dungeons.

Emily and Draco were moving to sit at one of the tables in the back of the library when Emily felt a familiar signature and a tap on her shoulder.

"Ced, free period too?" Emily said turning around.

"Yeah, just cramming for my OWLs," he told her holding up a large stack of books.

"Oh, we were just going to work on the last of our homework, want to join us?"

"Sure," the fifth year Hufflepuff answered.

"I'm actually going to go help Blaise, he said something about needing help with the Transfiguration essay," Draco said smirking at Emily as he left the two of them alone.

Cedric pulled out a chair for Emily and made sure she was seated before taking the seat next to hers. "I haven't seen much of you since they instated all of the restrictions," Cedric said while opening one of his books to begin taking notes.

"Yeah, I know it's for our protection but I hate feeling so cramped. I wish I could just go for a fly around the pitch," Emily sighed as she got to work on finishing her essay for Charms.

"I miss flying too, maybe when they lift the restrictions we can go for a fly together," he postured looking up from his work for a moment flashing her, his crooked grin.

"I'd like that. I haven't seen you on a broom yet. I was going to the game to see you fly against my brother but it was canceled."

"It was the one game I was really looking forward to. Your brother hasn't lost a match yet and it would be nice to have some good competition."

"You weren't looking forward to playing Draco and the Slytherins?" Emily teased.

"He's been beaten before, I'm sure it would be a good game but I want to play against the best," Cedric answered.

"He may be good but we snakes are the reigning champions need I remind you..."

Cedric laughed quietly, "Yes, a fact that everyone in the school is well aware of."

"Of course the school is, our brilliance and cunning work wonders for achieving our lofty goals," Emily said pompously trying to hide her smirk.

"You need to not make me laugh, I am going to get in trouble with Madam Pince," Cedric chuckled glancing towards the front of the library.

"Oh, and what would you do if you got in trouble?"

"I think you would owe me because it would be your fault."

"And just what would I owe you?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

Before Cedric could answer her Madam Pince called out for the second year Slytherins to gather their things. Draco approached the table, obviously he hadn't lost track of time like Emily had. The witch quickly gathered her things slinging her tote on her shoulder.

"I'll see you around. Good luck with your cramming," Emily said waving to Cedric as she and Draco made their way to join the line that was exiting the library.

"So, did you have fun," Draco smirked.

Emily nudged her best friend playfully, "Oh we didn't do much, just talked while we studied."

"Did you talk about anything interesting?"

"He did mention wanting to go flying together when the restrictions are lifted…" Emily said biting the inside of her lip.

Draco just smirked at her as they entered the Defense classroom taking their normal seats in the back of the room. It wasn't long before Professor Sprout dropped off the Gryffindors and they took the remaining seats, most of which were in the front of the class. Lockhart bound to the front of the room after thanking Professor Sprout. Unlike most of the teachers who looked more grim than usual he looked rather cheerful. Emily just groaned at the man's cheeriness before pulling out a book to hide under the table and began to distract herself for the rest of the lesson.

That night the common room was crowded much like it always was after the new curfew of six o'clock. There was nowhere else they were allowed to be so the room seemed to overflow with people. With so much space being taken up in the common room people tended to crowd the halls of the dorm rooms, making the whole place noisy till well past midnight each night. It was all too much for Emily who just wanted a moment of silence not trapped in her dorm room to get it. She decided to slip out of the Slytherin common room and go check on Fang. She knew from Severus that he was being looked after by the staff but she thought he was probably lonely without the constant companionship from Hagrid.

Emily moved along the halls quickly and quietly keeping to the shadows while using the passageways to get close to the large oak doors. She slid between doors that were surprisingly unlocked, making her way swiftly to Hagrid's hut. After starting a fire Emily moved to sit on a cushion on the floor, enjoying the silence as she petted Fang. She wasn't sure how long she sat there staring into the flames but she was startled from her thoughts when the door to Hagrid's hut opened to reveal Harry and Weasley.

"Emily," Harry said with a tone of disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she said continuing to pet Fang's head.

Weasley looked pale and kept nudging Harry, "Maybe we should just go."

"Is he okay?" Emily asked pointing to the red-head.

"He's fine," Harry answered before turning to look at his friend. "We are doing it tonight."

"Doing what?" Emily asked raising an eyebrow at the pair.

"We are going to take Fang for a walk…"

"Uh-huh," Emily gave her brother a look that clearly said she did not believe him. "Why don't I join you on this walk..."

"No need, we can handle Fang," Harry said walking forward, he started urging Fang to stand and follow him.

"If you're sure... I'm just going to make sure he has food and water for the night then, before heading back to the castle," Emily stood and moved towards Fang's food dishes making a show of putting food and fresh water in them.

Harry nodded practically pulling Weasley out of the hut by the arm with Fang following behind them. Emily waited a minute before leaving the hut and trailing after Harry. They seemed to be focused on something on the ground leading them into the forest. Looking around her she noticed a steady stream of spiders that appeared to be fleeing from the castle into the forest in droves. She followed them along the path into the forest while making sure to not get too close to Harry and Weasley. It was easy to keep track of them as Harry had cast a Lumos with his wand. She couldn't believe how deep into the forest they were traveling. Emily hesitated for a moment when she realized they were starting to deviate from the path. Last year Hagrid had warned them to never stray from it but there wasn't much she could do if she wanted to keep following them.She saw Harry jump and decided it was time to make them turn around and go back.

" ** _Harry_** " Emily hissed.

"What?" he snapped back before realizing it wasn't Weasley. He instantly started looking around his eyes filled with terror until he finally found her. "Emily! What are you doing?"

"Wondering why you are wandering into the forest for starters," she said crossing her arms.

He seemed to debate with himself for a moment before responding, "We are just following a clue Hagrid gave us."

"Hagrid told you to come into the Forbidden Forest, _**alone,**_ late at night?" Emily demanded.

"Well he…" Just then Fang barked loudly and started bounding forward forcing them to follow him.

"There is something moving over there! We're going to die!" Weasley shrieked.

"Of course something is moving, we are in the forest and there are spiders everywhere," Emily snapped while trying to motion Fang back towards them.

"Shhh, we don't want to make any more noise," Harry cautioned.

"I'm pretty sure Fang has already made our presence known Harry," Emily told him still trying to urge the happily barking dog to them. "It would be nice if you two would help me get Fang back."

There was an odd rumbling noise off to their right side. It didn't sound like an animal though, if Emily had to guess it sounded like an old car. She shook her head and turned back towards Fang as Weasley clung to Harry both frozen in their places looking towards where the sound was coming from. Emily had to cover her eyes as a blinding light broke through the dark trees. When her eyes adjusted she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"It's Dad's car!" Weasley exclaimed looking relieved.

All three of them stood there looking at the blue car that was stopped in front of them. Weasley was the first to move and walked up to it, patting the front of the car.

"Can you believe it's been in here this whole year?" Weasley said looking back to Harry excitedly. "It seems to have blended in with the forest…"

Emily had to agree with that statement, the car itself was covered with scratches and mud, there was even a few vines growing out of the trunk and up onto the hood of the car. Fang who had come back curious to see what had caught the three second years' attention was shaking next to Emily wary of the car before them.

"I think it would be best if we found the trail again," Emily said looking away from the car in the direction they came from. When the boys didn't answer Emily turned around and couldn't believe what she was seeing. Both boys were being lifted up by large spiders. Before she could get a spell off she found herself in the arms of a third monster.

The oversized spiders quickly took off for the heart of the forest. Emily was quickly trying to process what was happening. It wasn't long before they came to a ridge where there was a vast hollow, all around were giant spiders, it was like a scene from a muggle horror film. The spiders carrying the three second years moved to the middle of the hollow before dropping them onto the ground. Fang moved to Emily's side whimpering. Emily was shocked when she heard the spider that had carried Harry speak. It called out for someone named Aragog.

Emily, Harry and Weasley instinctively huddled together as a spider the size of an elephant emerged in front of them. Emily concluded that he must be the oldest as he had gray mixed into his coloring and was by far the largest of the spiders in the hollow.

"Hagrid…" the large spider called.

"No its strangers," one of the spiders called out.

"Then kill them and bother me no more tonight," Aragog ordered.

"Hagrid sent us!" Harry called out. Emily looked at Harry incredulously, this is what Hagrid had told them to do? She knew Hagrid loved creatures but this was ridiculous, how could he tell them to find man eating spiders in the middle of the forest?

"But Hagrid has never sent anyone to us before," Aragog clicked.

"They've taken him to Azkaban, they think he has opened the Chamber of Secrets and he told us to follow the spiders," Harry attempted to explain to the aged spider.

Emily was looking around the hollow. Things did not look good for them. There seemed to be more spiders gathering and she had no doubt they wouldn't freely let them leave the forest. She immediately started going through all the spells she knew that could help them make it to the edge of the forest alive.

"Hagrid was forced to leave the school for that years ago, they thought that I was the monster he was releasing into the school. At the time I was still young, though I was not born in the castle. I was brought to Hagrid from a faraway land, Hagrid hatched me and raised me within the castle walls. When I was blamed for the death of the girl who died Hagrid brought me to the forest and has continued to visit me through the years," Aragog explained.

"So it wasn't you, you weren't involved with the Chamber of Secrets at all?" Harry asked. Emily nudged her brother motioning him that he needed to stop. He was close to offending Aragog and he was their best chance for making it out of there without a fight no matter how small she thought it a possibility.

"It was my respect for Hagrid that kept me from attacking humans. The girl was found in a bathroom but I never left the dungeons or the cupboard Hagrid kept me in. I prefer the dark as does most of my kind," the aged spider told them.

"D-d-do y-you know w-what killed her?" Weasley stammered out.

"The creature is an ancient being that lives within the castle. We do not mention its name, it is a being we spiders fear above all others! I wanted to leave the castle the moment I sensed it moving about the school. It wasn't until the girl's body was found in the bathroom that Hagrid finally made arrangements to move me. He wasn't quick enough though, someone had found out about me and I had to flee the castle on my own."

Emily could tell that they needed to leave now as the spiders seemed to have become angered at the mention of the beast within Hogwarts. She nudged Harry and motioned for him and Weasley to start backing up slowly. "Thank you for your time Aragog," Emily spoke to the spider for the first time. "We must get back to the castle and when Hagrid is back we will tell him of your help."

"I think not, you see I cannot stop my sons and daughters from a feast when it comes to us most willingly," Aragog answered.

Emily knew she was going to have to start casting spells but before she could cast her first spell a bright light flooded the hollow. The enchanted car came screeching into the clearing knocking spiders out of its path. As soon as it stopped the doors opened and the three second years needed no prompting as they threw themselves into the car, Emily pulling Fang into the backseat with her. Once they were all in, the doors slammed shut on their own accord and the car took off, knocking spiders out of its way.

They were flying through the forest on a bumpy ride, no one was driving, the car knew where it was going on its own. Fang was howling next to her but Emily like the boys couldn't seem to make a sound. After about ten minutes they came upon the edge of the forest. As soon as they cleared the trees and were next to Hagrid's hut once again the car abruptly stopped. Fang jumped from the car the second Emily opened the door darting to the hut, scratching to be let inside it. Emily moved to let him in and once he was settled she joined Harry and Weasley in a silent trek back to the castle. None of them could bring themselves to say anything as they parted ways towards their different common rooms.

 **When Emily made it back to the dorms she quickly changed and slid into bed next to Draco who woke up seemingly sensing her distress as she buried her face in his chest.**

"Em…" Draco said groggily. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Emily shook her head she didn't want to talk about it right now. She was trying to understand it all herself. Knowing Emily wasn't going to talk right now Draco rubbed her back as he drifted back off to sleep. Emily on the other hand lay wide awake. Hagrid had not been the one to open the Chamber, what he was guilty of was raising man eating spiders and letting them breed by a castle full of children. No, the monster was still here in the castle as was the Heir and whatever the monster was, caused these spiders that ate humans to be terrified. Lastly, she had a very good idea as to who the girl was that had died, a girl that perhaps had never left the bathroom where she lost her life… Moaning Myrtle.


	30. The Chamber of Secrets

**30**

 **The Chamber of Secrets**

"Are you sure Myrtle was the girl that was killed that last time the Chamber was opened?" Draco asked Emily quietly as they ate their breakfast the next morning in the Great Hall.

"I'm sure of it. I just don't know what to do with the information. I'm worried Dray, Harry and Weasley took off into the forest because of a clue from Hagrid, they are not going to let this go easily," Emily sighed pushing her plate away from her.

"Maybe we can figure out what the spiders are afraid of and tell Uncle Sev, he'll listen to us." Emily nodded her head and the two made their way to Charms.

It was a few minutes into class when Professor Flitwick brought up the topic of exams. He wanted to go over the material that would be covered.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Theo. "There is no way we should have to take exams! I will be talking to my father about this!"

"I am very serious Mr. Nott," Flitwick squeaked. "Professor McGonagall has deemed it necessary to hold exams as usual since the school is to remain open."

Emily like many others didn't think they would be having exams but she was very glad that she hadn't used that thought as a means to slack on her studies. The same could not be said for others obviously, as she looked around the room many people seemed to be panicked that they were expected to actually remember anything they had been taught that year. As Professor Flitwick called attention back to himself to start his review Emily opened a book on beasts that she had grabbed from her room that morning and began reading hoping to find something that would give her an idea of the monster terrorizing the school.

Three days before their exams were to start Emily was opening a package that Narcissa had sent her with books on beasts from the Malfoy Library when Professor McGonagall rose to address the students. At the pronouncement of good news many students began guessing what it might be before finally falling silent under McGonagall's gaze.

"The Mandrakes have been harvested this morning. Many of you will notice that Professor Snape is not at breakfast, he is currently cutting the Mandrake root as I speak. Tonight the Draught will be ready to revive all who have been petrified. Once awake we are hopeful that the victims will be able to direct us to the person who has been causing the attacks and that we can end this year on a positive note."

The hall erupted into cheers. Emily looked around noticing that the youngest Weasley seemed troubled as she made her way towards Harry. Shrugging it off for now Emily pulled Draco up with her to leave the hall. In the commotion around them Emily bumped into Percy.

"Sorry, Percy everyone is a bit excited with the news," Emily said smiling at the Gryffindor Prefect.

"No worries I am equally as distracted," he said.

"Oh that's right, you are seeing the Ravenclaw that was petrified correct?"

He nodded, "Yes but if you will excuse me I am starving, I have been patrolling since early this morning."

"Of course, bye Percy," Emily said receiving a wave in return as they went their separate ways. Emily really wanted to get to the library so that she could read the books Narcissa sent that morning, but she had yet to be able to take a moment to read, as many of the Professors had requested that she help her classmates in reviewing for their exams. She was currently on her way to the library but it was taking awhile since they had to be escorted and Lockhart was taking his time with dropping the Gryffindors off at History of Magic first.

Lockhart was always the first to tell you that the danger was passed and that it was a waste of his time escorting students in the corridors. Today he seemed even more against it as he kept trying to flatten his hair that was imperfect due to his late patrols of the fourth floor.

"The security measures are no longer needed and I am sure by tomorrow everyone will see that I have been right all along," Lockhart rambled on. "They will be saying it was Hagrid and we will be able to finish out the year in peace… this is a ridiculous waste of our precious time… you are old enough to walk yourselves to classes..."

Emily rolled her eyes turning to Draco who looked equally as bored with having to put up with the blonde ponce.

"Does he ever shut up?" Draco hissed. "It was bad enough he spent half of class complaining that he was having a bad hair day. I am positive our final will just be the same quiz he gave at the beginning of the year asking what his favorite color is."

"The year is almost over and hopefully he won't be back," Emily said.

"We can only hope… wait where is he going?"

Emily looked forward to see that Lockhart was waving at the class and leaving back down the corridor they came from. Not about to complain about Lockhart's departure Emily linked arms with Draco dragging him off in the direction of the library with her. When they reached the library Emily and Draco headed to the back where their favorite table was located and quickly sat down pulling out the books on beasts that they were looking through. They were having very little luck until Emily decided they needed to go over the facts again to see if they could narrow it down to one species.

"What do we know about the creature," Emily prompted.

"Spiders are afraid of it," Emily nodded and made a motion with her hands for Draco to keep going. "It has been in the castle since the time of Salazar Slytherin, if we believe the legends, but we know that it was for sure in the castle fifty years ago…" Emily looked at the list she had made and suddenly something stood out to her.

"Dray why did everyone think I was the Heir after the dueling club," Emily asked sounding excited.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her as if she was crazy but answered her anyway, "Because you can talk to snakes…"

"And why would speaking to snakes make me his Heir?"

"Slytherin was widely known for speaking to snakes, it is why our house mascot is a snake."

"So it would stand to reason then that the beast he placed in his Chamber would be some kind of snake correct?"

"That's a good theory but what kind of snake can possibly live that long?" Draco asked.

Emily shook her head before pulling a book on ancient beasts and their origins towards her, looking for anything about snakes. She found two references to snakes and quickly flipped to the first one. The more she read the more excited she became.

"I think I've found it," she excitedly whispered to Draco. "Listen to this… The legendary Basilisk also known as the King of the Serpents derived its name from the Greek word _basiliscus_ meaning "little king". It is one of the most deadly beasts known to our world. This snake can reach lengths of up to sixty-five feet and live for hundreds of years. Along with venomous fangs, instant death awaits those who look into the snake's eyes. It is believed that the Basilisk lives mainly in desert lands and has been depicted in many Egyptian tombs. Spiders fear this beast above all other creatures. It is believed that the only way to control a Basilisk is to be a Parselmouth. The Basilisk only fears the crow of a rooster which is fatal to it."

"It sounds good but no one has died," Draco pointed out.

Emily thought about it for a moment, "What if no one looked it in the eyes directly…" Draco raised an eyebrow at this but kept quiet knowing Emily would elaborate. "Creevey was found sneaking to the hospital with his camera. He was probably looking through it when he was attacked. Finch-Fletchley is the easiest, he was with Sir Nicolas and must have seen it through him. It explains why Nicolas was affected at all, he took the brunt of the attack but you can't kill a ghost. I'm not sure about Granger and the Ravenclaw but Granger is smart she probably had figured it out since my brother and his friends seem to have been trying to solve the mystery this whole time and she took precautions."

"Okay but what about Filch's cat?"

Emily thought back to that first night and pictured the corridor on Halloween. "The hall was flooded. Peeves had insulted Myrtle again and she must have flooded the bathroom. Mrs. Norris saw it in the reflection of the water." Emily looked back at the book and reread the description again. "It makes sense. The only thing that it fears is a rooster's crow and I remember running into Hagrid the day Finch-Fletchley was found and he was going to talk to Dumbledore about something killing all the roosters. The spiders have fled the castle to escape the monster, it all fits."

"So, if it's a Basilisk, how is it getting around without anyone seeing it," Draco prompted.

Emily thought about it for a minute, "I would have to guess the pipes. Whenever I heard it, it was moving through the walls so that is my best guess." Emily and Draco sat there for a minute both thinking on the implications of what they had discovered until Draco spoke up.

"Em, what if the entrance is in a bathroom… more specifically a certain bathroom where a certain ghost that died fifty years ago haunts…"

"Myrtle's bathroom…" Emily offered as Draco nodded.

"We need to tell Uncle Sev," Draco said as they both jumped up and began to put their things away.

Emily and Draco swiftly made their way out of the library and down towards the dungeons. They hurried hoping to catch Severus before his next class. They knew the bell would ring any minute but it never came, instead they heard Professor McGonagall's voice amplified through the halls.

"Students are to go to their common rooms and all teachers are to meet in the staffroom immediately!"

"Do you think there was another attack?" Draco asked as they approached the painting that led to Severus's quarters.

"Callidus anguis," Emily said as the portrait swung open allowing them entrance. "I think we will just have to sit and wait for Sev to come back."

Draco and Emily settled in to wait for Severus to return. Isis sensing Emily's unrest coiled herself on her mistress' lap. It was about an hour before Severus burst into his room looking around quickly for things not noticing the two teens sitting on his couch.

"Uncle Sev what's going on?" Draco said drawing Severus's attention to them.

"What are you two doing here? You should be in the common room with the others!" he rushed as he grabbed a book from the shelf and started towards his potions lab.

"We need to talk to you about the Chamber of Secrets," Emily tried.

"I am sorry you two but you both need to go back to the common room. Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber and the teachers are all meeting to try and solve this."

"That's why we want to talk to you!" Emily insisted.

"Em, now just isn't a good time. I have to go, you both get back to the common room and stay there!" he walked over to them and kissed their foreheads before hurriedly exiting his quarters.

"Well that didn't do much good," Draco stated. Emily just raised an eyebrow at the blonde as if to say 'you think'. "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know. Odd that a pureblood was taken into the Chamber though…"

Draco nodded, "Do you think she knew something?"

"Possibly, all I know about her is that she is star struck over Harry and seems really quiet. Maybe we should just go to the common room and try talking to Sev later."

"Can we head to the kitchens first, I'm starving."

Emily nodded her head, "Sure but if Sev catches us sneaking around right now I'm blaming you."

Draco shrugged as they left Severus' quarters and headed towards the kitchens. On their way they noticed Harry and Weasley sneaking down a hallway towards the corridor where Lockhart's office was located. Draco groaned when Emily motioned for him to follow her knowing that his stomach was going to have to wait a little longer. They watched as Harry and Weasley knocked on Lockhart's door. Lockhart answered looking quite frazzled and out of sorts but allowed the two Gryffindors entry before shutting the door behind them. Emily and Draco crept towards the door and could hear the conversation going on inside.

"You are leaving?" Harry asked.

"I received an urgent call and I need to leave right away!" they heard Lockhart answer.

"But my sister! You're supposed to save her!" Weasley yelled.

"Yes well it is an unfortunate situation and I am sorry for your loss..." Lockhart fumbled.

They could hear banging which Emily thought was most likely Lockhart in his rush to leave.

"What about everything in your books!" Harry exclaimed. "You have been going on and on, all year about your achievements! How can you leave now?"

"Yes, well literature can be misleading…" Lockhart explained and Emily had to hold back a snort at that. She knew that man was a fraud.

"You're the author!" Harry yelled.

"Of course I am, but do you really think anyone would read them if it was a fat, ugly Armenian who accomplished the tasks. People want a hero and they want them to look the part. I simply gave the public what they desired…"

"You're a fraud!" Harry interrupted.

"Now Harry, you are being a bit harsh. No one was hurt and it makes the people happy to have me as their hero. A few of the tales are partially true I just expanded upon them and of course I had to put a Memory Charm on those I used for the basis of my stories. I may not be the most gifted wizard but the one thing I have always excelled in was Memory Charms. And now that you know I am going to have to obliviate you…"

Emily did not like where this was going and decided that now was a good time to intervene. She unlocked the door silently before opening it abruptly. The three occupants of the room were too surprised at the intrusion to stop her as she cast an Expelliamus at Lockhart effectively disarming him.

Emily caught Lockhart's wand before handing it to Draco who promptly threw it out the window. Lockhart looked in shock towards the window as he tried to stand up from where he had been blasted back into all of his luggage.

"What do you all want from me? I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is!" Lockhart said still staring at the window.

Quickly snapping out of his gawking at Emily and Draco, Harry turned to Lockhart, "We do and you're coming with us." Keeping his wand trained on Lockhart Harry led the man from his office with the other three second years following him. Draco kept glancing at Emily as they made their way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Emily, should we be doing this…" Draco whispered.

"If we leave now Harry will go into the Chamber by himself I can't let him do that," Emily said quietly never taking her eyes off her brother.

"Emily, you brought friends," Myrtle said floating over to the witch before she noticed Harry. Changing direction to glide towards Harry, Emily had to hold back a laugh as the ghost batted her eyelashes at her brother.

"Hello Harry, can I help you with something?" the young ghost asked sweetly.

"Uh… I was wondering if you could tell us about how you died," Harry asked.

"Really, oh it was frightful," she said trying to lay her head on Harry's shoulder making the Gryffindor decidedly uncomfortable. "Olive Hornby had been teasing me because of my new glasses and I had come in here to hide. I was crying when I heard a strange voice that sounded like a boy's. I couldn't understand him, he wasn't speaking English. Either way he shouldn't have been in here so I left the stall to tell him to get out and then I died."

"Myrtle, do you remember seeing anything before you died?" Emily spoke up.

The ghost turned to the Slytherin and smiled, "Just a large pair of yellow eyes. It was so fast… it was just over there." Myrtle pointed towards a sink just to the right of them. Emily approached it slowly and looked the sink over. Emily noticed that unlike the other sinks this one had a snake carved into the copper tap.

"Harry, there is a snake carved here," Emily said turning towards her brother who still had his wand trained on Lockhart.

"Does it work?" he asked looking from his captive to her.

"It's never worked," Myrtle interjected happily.

"Maybe try speaking in Parseltongue," Draco offered. Emily nodded and turned towards the tap. She thought of Isis and tried to imagine speaking to her, having never tried speaking Parseltongue without a snake in front of her before she found it slightly difficult at first.

" _ **Open**_ ," she finally hissed and immediately the sink began to shake causing the girl to take a few steps back. It moved forward sinking into the ground, leaving a large pipe exposed.

"Let's go," Harry said moving forward quickly towards the pipe only to be stopped by Emily.

"Harry, think this through. We have it open, we can go get a teacher and let them know…"

"My sister is down there!" Weasley yelled at her, clearly unwilling to hear reason.

"We don't have time. I'm going," Harry said stepping around Emily towards the pipe again.

The witch sighed and shook her head, "Fine but send the blonde ponce first."

Lockhart looked at Emily in fear before turning to Harry, "No… no… you don't need me anymore… I'll just go back… I can go get another teacher…"

"I don't think so," Emily said pointing her wand at the scared man's face, "after you."

Lockhart slowly approached the pipe and kept throwing fearful glances at the small group of students hoping one of the second years would rescue him and allow him to leave. When he stopped and didn't appear to be able to continue Emily gave him a little helpful push forcing him down the pipe. Lockhart was quickly followed by Harry and then Weasley.

Emily turned to Draco, "You should go and find Sev."

"I am not letting you go down there by yourself," Draco said shaking his head.

"I won't be alone…"

"Em, none of them are trained like us. I can't let you go down there and end up in the hospital like last year."

"Fine," Emily gave in knowing they were wasting time. She turned to the pipe and slid down it, twisting and turning before landing on a damp floor in a large dark tunnel. Draco soon landed behind her. She noticed both Harry and Weasley already had their wands trained on Lockhart waiting for her and Draco to join them.

"Lovely," Emily muttered as she took in the dark stone tunnel before them. She quickly cast a lumos as did Draco to help them see better as they began moving forward. No one spoke as they slowly continued on. It wasn't long before there was the sound of crunching from under their feet as they stepped on small animal bones, likely the remains of the monster's meals. They all came to a stop when they reached a large snake skin lying in the tunnel. It was dark green in color and appeared to be over thirty feet long.

They all quickly turned from observing the skin when Lockhart suddenly collapsed onto the ground, his knees seemingly giving out due to fear. Weasley moved forward to get the man off the ground only to be knocked off his own feet by said man. Harry jumped towards them while Emily and Draco trained their wands on the crazed blonde who was jumping to his feet holding Weasley's wand in his hands.

"This is where our adventure ends," Lockhart declared. "I will be taking a bit of that skin as evidence and telling them how I was too late to help the girl and how you all were driven insane at the sight of her mangled body… I'm sorry but I can't let you keep your memories. You understand I'm sure."

He turned pointing the wand at Weasley and yelled "Obliviate" as Emily cast an Expelliarmus followed by an Incarcerus cast by Draco. Emily's first spell missed as Lockhart was blown backwards by Weasley's broken wand backfiring. Whether Draco's spell landed or not, Emily did not know as the ceiling of the tunnel began to cave in. When the debris cleared Emily found herself and Harry were alone looking at a wall of stone in front of them.

"Dray, are you okay?" Emily called out.

"We're all fine," came Draco's muffled reply. "Lockhart seems confused and Weasley is just standing here staring at the rock."

"I am not! Harry are you okay?" Weasley shouted.

"I'm fine Ron," Harry replied.

"Why don't you guys shift the rock. Try to be careful and we will keep going," Emily instructed.

"Em…" Draco's voice sounded worried.

"It will be okay, just shift the rock," Emily told him. The witch turned to face away from the newly formed rock wall and took a deep breath before starting to walk again.

"Emily it's a…" Harry began to rush out.

"I know," she said cutting him off. "If you see anything that moves close your eyes, do not let your guard down," Emily stated firmly.

Harry just nodded his head and quietly walked alongside his sister shooting glances at her every so often. Together they approached a wall that had large entwined snakes upon it. All of their eyes were sparkling emeralds that seemed to flicker in the wand light. With one last look to her brother Emily spoke to the wall, " _ **Open**_."

The serpents began to uncoil and move to separate sides as the wall split to create an opening. Together the twins both stepped forward to enter the chamber.


	31. The Heir of Slytherin

**31**

 **The Heir of Slytherin**

The twins stood staring down a long chamber bathed in a green light. Large columns carved in the shapes of serpents lined the chamber supporting the ceiling. Each serpent cast an eerie shadow over the path before them.

Keeping her wand in front of her she motioned to Harry that they should move forward. Getting a nod in reply the twins slowly made their way further into the chamber. Every step seemed to echo in the cavernous chamber no matter how softly they stepped. Emily eyed the stone serpents warily, their eyes seemed to follow them as if at any moment they would animate and attack them for daring to enter the chamber. When they reached the last stone serpent, the chamber opened up into an even larger cavern with a large stone statue facing them. It was a face Emily knew immediately from her studies. It was ancient looking man with a beard and long flowing hair, it was none other than Salazar Slytherin. Emily couldn't hold back her smirk. The man was obviously vain.

Emily was pulled from her musing at her brother's call of "Ginny!" She looked to see her brother rush towards the small girl who was lying before them on the floor. Emily advanced slowly as Harry shook the red-head's shoulders begging her not to be dead, yelling at her that her brothers would be devastated without her. The girl was pale and looked lifeless.

As Harry attempted to wake her, her head rolled towards Emily and she could see the girl's eyes were closed and her body moved like deadweight letting both Emily and Harry know she was not petrified.

"Please, you can't be dead! Wake up!" Harry pleaded shaking Ginny as her head lolled from side to side.

"It's futile, she will never again open her eyes," a soft voice spoke. Harry jumped but Emily turned cautiously, curious as to why she didn't feel a new magical signature. Before her stood an attractive boy who was casually leaning against the wall. He appeared to be about sixteen and had black hair. The strange thing about him though was that he was blurred around the edges as if he was more of a projected image than a true person.

"Tom…" Harry called out. "Riddle?" At the nod from the newcomer Emily noticed her brother seemed relieved. Who was Tom Riddle and how did he know her brother?

"Tom, do you know what's going on? Why won't she wake?" Harry asked urgently. "Is she…"

"She is just barely alive at the moment," Tom answered not even bothering to look in the girl's direction.

Emily stood back taking in the scene. Unwilling to act just yet, she needed more information. She began looking around the room which seemed devoid of any large serpent making Emily uneasy at the thoughts of where the Basilisk might be hiding. She turned back to the boys when she heard her brother ask Tom if he was a ghost. Inspecting the boy's image again she could see where her brother may draw that conclusion but unlike a ghost you could clearly make out various colors in the boys image and he was not transparent.

"I guess I am more of a memory that has been preserved for fifty years within an old diary," Tom said gesturing towards a point closer to the statue. There on the floor was a leather diary, one she recognized. It was the very diary that had given off a magical signature she knew all too well from the year previous. She had felt it when she helped her brother on Valentine's Day after his book bag ripped. She had written it off at the time because books didn't tend to carry magical signatures for long and her brother having a book that felt like him, well she just could not fathom how that could happen. Now though she was very wary, looking between the diary and the boy.

"Can one of you help me lift her?" Harry asked. "There is the Basilisk and it could come at any moment, we need to get out of here."

"You do have a wand," Emily reminded Harry. "You can levitate her."

Harry looked a bit sheepish and reached to the ground where Tom was now standing.

"Have you seen my wand?" Harry said looking between her and Tom.

"You put your wand down?" Emily scolded. "Never let your wand leave your hand when in a strange place, especially when you know a large beast is lying in wait somewhere!"

"She's right you know, you really should keep track of your wand. You wouldn't want an enemy to catch you unaware," Tom said smirking down at the scene before him. Emily noticed the boy was now twirling a wand in his hand, a wand she recognized as Harry's. Her brother must have noticed as well as he blushed and held out his hand.

"Uh… thanks I will remember to watch it better," Harry said but Tom made no move to give the wand back. "The Basilisk could come at any minute…"

"It has to be called," Tom replied causing Emily to raise an eyebrow. How did he know that?

"Can I have my wand please, I'm going to need it," Harry pressed.

"You won't need it," Tom said smiling back down at Harry.

Emily stepped towards Tom, "Why won't he need it?" Tom looked over to her, his eyes scanning her body. Emily held back her shudder at the look that came into his eyes.

"You must be Emily Potter," he said moving towards her, "the Slytherin of the Potter twins. Yes, I have been most anxious to meet you."

"You appear to know me but I don't know you," Emily said hiding her unease.

"How rude of me," he said giving her a small bow. "I am Tom Marvolo Riddle. It is…"

"We can talk later you two, we need to get out of here!" Harry yelled at them cutting Tom off.

"We have time now," Tom snapped without moving his gaze from Emily.

"Okay…" said Harry, hesitantly looking between his sister and Tom neither taking their eyes off the other. "Do you know what happened to Ginny?" he tried.

"It's a long story you see," Tom replied finally breaking eye contact to look at the girl on the floor. "It all comes down to a little girl, named Ginny Weasley, who spilled her very soul, her every secret and desire, to an unseen stranger."

Harry looked confused but Emily's eyes followed Tom's to the leather bound diary on the stone floor. She looked back to Ginny Weasley and Emily had an idea of what he was alluding to. "The diary…" Emily said.

"Yes," Tom seemed to purr as he focused on Emily again. "It was my diary to be exact. The little girl had been writing in it before she even came to school. She hasn't left one detail of her life hidden. She has told me of her six older brothers, how everything she owns is secondhand, how" here Tom turned to Harry and smirked, "how the wonderful and attractive, famous Harry Potter would never be able to fall in love with her like she dreams."

Emily smirked at that. The girl was a classic fangirl who was utterly star struck by her brother there was no denying that.

"It is very boring listening to an eleven year old girl who is nothing more than average," Tom continued. "I was not unkind though, I did write back to her. She did so love me. 'No one listens to me but you, Tom'… 'I'm so glad I found this diary. It is so nice having a friend that I can carry with me all the time'…"

Riddle moved towards Emily and she felt an odd sensation as he reached to run his fingers down her cheek. "She spoke of you Emily, the Potter twin that resides in the noble House of Slytherin. The twin many fear and is widely known as the smartest witch in the school, easily earning top marks in every class. Of course, she seemed more jealous of you than anything else," Tom smirked as his hand gently moved through her hair. "You are more beautiful than she ever mentioned and quite powerful. It radiates off of you."

Emily didn't move. She was torn, she wanted to push him away and not allow him to touch her but on the other hand she had never seen someone look at her in such a way before and it made her pause. Tom brought his hand to the middle of Emily's back keeping contact with her as he turned back to Harry.

"It was very easy for Ginny to bare her soul to me, and her soul was what I was looking for all along…" Emily looked up into Tom's face with puzzlement feeling very confused and a bit dazed at the moment. Tom flashed her a reassuring smile and continued, "Every entry that spoke of her greatest fears, of her darkest secrets, I grew stronger, I grew powerful. It wasn't long before I became more powerful than her and began adding a little of my soul into hers."

Emily was barely paying attention her mind kept focusing on the hand that was lazily rubbing circles on her back. She was trying to process what Tom was saying but his touches were distracting.

"I don't understand," Harry said eyeing the sight of his sister and Riddle warily.

"I will make it simple for you Harry Potter," Tom spoke softly. "Young Ginny here was the one to open the Chamber of Secrets.She wrote the messages in blood on the walls, she killed the school's roosters, and she released Salazar's Serpent so it could attack the mudbloods and the idiot Squib's cat."

That caught Emily's attention and she looked to the girl on the floor. The girl's appearance and behavior fit... she had spent the year looking pale and constantly on edge. Emily shook herself mentally trying to focus her thoughts away from the hand that was now around her waist. Wait when had his hand moved there?

"She couldn't have…" Harry whispered.

"In the beginning she held not an inkling of what she was doing. Those first few entries as she learned of what she was making happen was quite entertaining… 'Tom, I woke up in my bed covered in rooster feathers. I can't remember how they got there'… 'Tom, the night of Halloween a cat was attacked and I can't remember anything but I seem to be covered in blood'... 'Tom, Percy seems worried for me. He told me I look pale and sick, maybe he thinks I'm behind the attacks'… 'Tom, I think I know who is attacking everyone. It's ME!'..."

Emily found her head was resting on Tom's arm and quickly straightened it earning an amused chuckle from the boy. She looked to Harry whose fists were balled and was staring at the Weasley girl and Tom with anger. What was going on, she needed to clear her mind and focus.

"Little Ginny didn't want to give up her diary though, even once she knew it was spurring her to attack others," Tom said shaking his head sadly in the direction of the girl. "She knew but it took until one of her Housemates mentioned her strange behavior for her to finally fear getting caught and try to dispose of it.Of course, that is when you, Harry, came upon it. Of all the people to find it, it was one of the people I wanted to meet most."

"Why me?" Harry asked through clenched teeth.

"As I told you, Ginny told me everything and that included her infatuation with you. Of course, I wanted to know Emily as well and hoped that by showing you how I turned in that brainless half giant Hagrid, that I could gain your trust enough that you might tell me the things I wanted to know."

"But Hagrid is my friend and I knew he could never do something like that. It was you all along!" Harry yelled.

Emily looked up at Tom and tried to step away but he held her tight to him and wouldn't allow her to move. "When it came down to my word verses Hagrid's, well it wasn't much of a choice. Do you side with poor but amazingly brilliant Tom Riddle, who lives in an orphanage, is the school prefect and everything a model student should be… or do you side with a blundering oaf, Hagrid, who is always in trouble for trying to bring restricted creatures into the castle and was caught with an acromantula that truly did pose a large threat to the school. I was honestly shocked at how smoothly it all worked out. I thought more people would question Hagrid being intelligent and powerful enough to be the Heir of Slytherin but then again they were in a desperate situation."

"Only Dumbledore seemed sure of Hagrid's innocence and convinced Headmaster Dippet to keep him as gamekeeper. I think Dumbledore might have known, but it matters little when he never voiced his opinions. Either way it was unsafe for me to continue to open the Chamber while still in school. I preserved myself at the age of sixteen into the pages of the diary hoping someone would find it and finish Salazar's work."

"But Slytherin never wanted to kill muggleborns," Emily spoke finally, staring up at Tom confused. "He wanted them removed from their families or uninvited yes, but it was an effort to save their lives. Their families would have killed them out of fear, he had no intention to kill them himself!"

"Muggles are beneath us Emily, you must remember that," Tom said harshly. "This is what Salazar wanted and I will finish his work and you..."

"But no one has died!" Harry injected. "Everyone who was petrified will be given the Mandrake Draught, tonight."

"Have you yet to notice that I stopped caring about the mudbloods and started focusing on both of you," Tom said snapping his head to look at Harry. "I was livid when the next entry came and it was the foolish little girl. She panicked when she saw you with the diary. She was worried I would tell you her secrets. Even more so, she was worried you would find out it was her behind the attacks and that she had done nothing to turn the diary in and confess her actions as she should have.

So, one day when she knew your dorm was empty because everyone was in class she snuck into your dorm room and stole the diary back. I knew though, that you were trying to solve the mystery and would stop at nothing until you knew the truth. So I may have encouraged Ginny to attack your best friend to help push you to continue your research. Ginny had informed me that Emily has the gift of the serpent's tongue," Tom used his free hand to cup Emily's cheek and rubbed his thumb close to her lips. "I just needed to lead you here forcing you to have to seek her help if you wanted entry."

"Harry is a Parselmouth as well," Emily said feeling distinctly uncomfortable but unable to leave his grasp, her wand arm had been frozen for a while now and her wand was in Tom's pocket with Harry's.

Tom simply raised an eyebrow at this new information but waved it off and continued, "It matters not as you both came down here as I had wished for you to. And of course that leads us to today. I convinced Ginny to write her farewell message on the wall and come down here to await your arrival. She has little life left in her now… she gave me too much, freely of course. She knew what was happening but she continued and here we are. I have many questions for you both."

"What kind of questions?" Emily asked keeping her voice devoid of emotions.

"You are both hailed for the demise of the greatest sorcerer in the world at the mere age of one. You both share scars, or so I'm told," he glanced towards Emily's head which held no scar. "But Lord Voldemort's powers were completely destroyed from the encounter. How does that happen?"

"You expect us to know what happened that night when we were, as you said, only one year old..." Emily asked raising a challenging eyebrow at the boy who still refused to let her leave his arms.

"Why does it even matter?" Harry cried. "Voldemort was not from your time."

Tom smiled as he pulled out Harry's wand, "Oh but Voldemort was of my time…"

In the air he began to write letters made of fire that read:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

With a wave of his wand the letters began to rearrange until they formed a new phrase:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

"I began using the name amongst my closest friends while I was still at Hogwarts.

I couldn't very well keep using a name given to me by my filthy muggle father, who abandoned my mother when he found out she was a witch, could I? I have the blood of the great Salazar Slytherin running through my veins; it would not do to disgrace my heritage with a Muggle name. I created a name the world would fear to even speak."

Emily let this knowledge soak in. This boy before her had gone from what she was seeing now to the spirit she had encountered last year. She could tell he was angered at his past and that was what spurred him. She could understand that anger of being orphaned and wanting to show the world you are worth more than you've been given.

All of a sudden they all turned as a flash of flames appeared before them and a musical trill was echoed through the Chamber. The music filled Emily's body with warmth. She felt her heart lift when she noticed a red and golden bird swoop down dropping whatever it was holding in its talons next to her before landing on her shoulder forcing Tom to release his tight hold on her.

"A phoenix…" Tom breathed. "But how?"

Harry looked confused but Emily felt a warm tingle go down her arms and found she could move them again. "Fawkes what are you doing here?" Emily cooed, reaching up to pet the phoenix's head.

"Did he bring you the Sorting Hat?" Tom said with a bit of disbelief looking at the worn lump that Fawkes had dropped on the ground. He slowly began to laugh. Emily looked to Harry who seemed just as lost as to what was so funny.

When Tom calmed he looked towards her brother and spoke, "I want to know everything about how you both survived and the longer you talk the longer you live."

Emily tried to move towards her brother. For some reason she had a feeling that threat didn't extend to her.

"Oh no, you need to learn to be at my side Emily. You will understand one day that this was necessary, now stand still." Fawkes let out an angry screech as he was jostled when Emily was pulled back into Tom. It seemed even a young Voldemort wanted her as a consort.

Emily tried to process everything quickly. Tom had both her and Harry's wands but she had Fawkes and the Sorting Hat. She noticed that Tom seemed to be becoming more solid and stronger the longer they stood there. If she was to win a fight against someone who most likely had equal drive and power to her she needed to do it while she still had the advantage. She needed to get her wand back. She shot Harry a pleading look which she hoped he saw as her urging him to talk so she could think.

He seemed to understand and immediately started talking. "It's a mystery what happened that night," Harry started. "Dumbledore said it was our mother's love that saved us. Her sacrifice to willingly die for us was our protection from death. Last year after Emily faced you Dumbledore told me that you are weak and in hiding. You can't even support yourself, you have to rely on other people!"

Tom didn't seem fazed as Harry tried to provoke him instead a smile formed on his face that made shivers run down Emily's spine. "I understand now. You see, I was confused how you survived Harry Potter. You show no large magical talent and seem rather satisfied with no ambitions to better yourself.

But Emily you can see the many similarities between us, can't you my dear," Tom purred turning to once again caress Emily's cheek. "We both are orphaned half-bloods who were forced to live amongst muggles. We both speak Parseltongue and belong to the noble House of Slytherin, neither of us satisfied always pushing ourselves to achieve more, doing magic others could only dream of at a young age. Yes you will do quite well by my side." Emily stood there frozen as the comparisons Tom made flew through her mind. She didn't want to be like the monster Tom Riddle became but she couldn't deny their similarities.

"I think it's time we end this Harry Potter. I grow bored and I will need to get Emily out of the castle soon. No doubt she will miss you but don't worry I will take good care of her."

Harry looked to his sister but Emily just stared at Riddle as he turned to the large stone face. The second Riddle began to speak Harry knew he was in trouble.

" _ **Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.**_ " Salazar Slytherin's mouth began to open until a large black hole could be seen in its place. Something was coming forward. Emily was jostled by a trill from Fawkes as he swept his wing against her face and took flight. She heard something large hit the stone floor and she knew what Tom had done she needed her wand now.

" _ **Kill the boy**_ **."**

Emily watched as her brother closed his eyes and began running. She threw herself into Tom's arms, at first he was stunned but soon wrapped his arms around her.

"I know it must be done but please don't make me watch," she begged looking up into Tom's eyes.

"Of course I won't" he placated her and kissed her forehead. "I am glad you can see reason." Emily reached up on her tip toes and kissed his lips. As Tom deepened the kiss Emily slowly reached into his pocket removing her and Harry's wands hiding them in her back pocket.

She broke the kiss and hid her head for a second in his chest calming herself. It was mere seconds before she was pushed aside as Tom moved towards the basilisk hissing in outrage.

"NO! YOU STUPID BIRD!" Tom ranted as Emily took the chance to race to the Sorting Hat. " _ **WHAT ARE YOU DOING? KILL THE BOY! FORGET THE BIRD AND KILL HIM! SMELL HIM!**_ "

Emily looked to the scene and saw that Fawkes had blinded the large serpent. Getting a good look for the first time she noted that the serpent must be more than 60 feet long, much longer than the skin they had passed coming in. Emily thought through all the spells she could think of but had no idea what she could use to injure the beast. The skin had been known to be used as battle armor due to its strength but she had to try something soon, the Basilisk was starting to get its bearings and once it did Tom's focus would be on her again.

She looked at the hat in her hands and whispered 'help me'. Soon she saw something materialize in the hat, pulling it out she realized she was holding a rapier. She had to get to Harry who was now backing into a corner. Fawkes swooped down and began to distract Tom as she slipped behind him, allowing her the chance to run towards her brother.

The Basilisk lunged forward only for Harry to dodge and have its head slam into the Chamber wall. She reached Harry pushing him over as the Basilisk lunged a second time. This time as its mouth opened Emily shoved the rapier through the roof of its mouth. Emily felt a searing pain shoot through her arm as the serpent's blood rushed down her from the wound. As she pulled the rapier from the head, the beast collapsed dead on the ground.

The pain was growing and Emily didn't have to look to know one of the fangs had become lodged in her arm. Grasping the fang she dropped the sword turning to Harry and tossing him his wand.

"Harry get Ginny and levitate her out of here. I will be right behind you," she instructed.

"But…" Harry started.

"No! Go now! Quickly, I will follow shortly please go," she was beginning to feel the effect of the venom and refused to let her brother watch her die.

Tom ran towards her and grabbed her forgetting about Harry as he slipped out of the Chamber levitating Ginny. "Why would you do something so foolish," he reprimanded her.

Emily tried to stay standing but her legs gave out. Tom held her as he sat on the floor carding his fingers through her hair. "You can't die, I need you, together we will be unstoppable," he cried. "What can fix this!"

Emily pushed herself out of his grip and lay on the floor as the room began to swim before her. She felt drowsy; if this was dying she was okay with it. At least the pain was beginning to recede.

"Haven't you done enough bird," Tom spat. Emily rolled her head to the side and watched as a blurry Fawkes bowed over her wound nuzzling her arm. Then slowly the room began to come back into focus.

"He's crying… of course you marvelous bird," Tom said and began stroking Emily's hair again. "It looks as if your foolishness will be okay. Though I think we have learned that you will need to stay close to my side until I can fully trust you to make the responsible choice and not act like a rash Gryffindor."

He slowly helped the witch to sit up. Emily was extremely grateful to Fawkes but now she had another problem, how to get away from a seemingly possessive dark wizard who was still getting stronger. The look of lust in his eyes made her shiver. Suddenly Fawkes flew over her head and dropped the diary back in her lap. What was she supposed to do with this?

Tom stood walking back towards the statue of Slytherin's head looking for another way out of the Chamber as Emily desperately looked around her. Emily noticed the Fang on the floor and wondered if the venom could hurt the diary. She slowly reached for it never taking her eyes off of Tom. He never looked back towards her as she raised the fang and thrust it into the heart of the diary. The diary began to bleed ink and a piercing scream echoed through the Chamber. Tom turned towards her with a shocked expression as he dropped to the floor and began to scream, his body slowly and painfully fading out of existence. And then – he was gone.

Emily pushed herself off the floor, overcoming the disorienting dizziness as she quickly gathered the diary, rapier and hat before following Fawkes out of the Chamber. She ran down the tunnel as quickly as her body would allow in her weakened state and reached the spot where the cave-in had happened earlier that night.

"Dray," she called out.

"Thank Merlin!"

The young witch almost cried as her best friend's voice reached her ears.Seconds later she saw him reaching for her through a gap they had created in the rock. She passed him the hat, that she had the diary and rapier in, before accepting his hand and climbing through. Fawkes swooped through behind her causing Draco to raise an eyebrow in question at her.

"Later, once we get out of here," she said. Draco pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

Emily looked over to where Harry and Weasley were trying to console a crying Ginny who seemed to have woken up. She then looked over to where Lockhart sat playing with two of the rocks making smooching noises as he pressed them together.

"We need to get out of here," Emily said grimacing at the blood that was now on Draco because he hugged her. Everyone was in agreement and with Harry dragging Lockhart to make sure he didn't get sidetracked they made it to the bottom of the tunnel they had all slid down earlier.

"How do we get back up?" Harry questioned as he looked up the pipe.

Emily had a thought and decided it was worth a try before she hissed, " _ **Stairs**_." Stairs began to form and the group slowly climbed their way up the pipe back into the bathroom. Once everyone was out of the pipe the sink that had been in front of it rose from the ground and slid back into place sealing off the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets once again. Myrtle looked disappointedly at Harry as she noted that he was still alive.

"Where do we go now?" Harry said looking around as they exited the bathroom. Fawkes let out a trill in answer.

"I believe he wants us to follow him," Emily shrugged. The group followed Fawkes through the castle. A few minutes later they found themselves standing outside of Professor McGonagall's office. Emily knocked in warning before opening up the door and leading the group in.


	32. Rewards and No Consequences

**32**

 **Rewards and No Consequences**

When Emily opened the door, the occupants of the room turned to stare at the new comers. Emily moved further in allowing everyone to enter the office. There was a scream as Mrs. Weasley ran forward gathering her daughter in her arms. Mr. Weasley stepped towards them embracing them both. Emily saw that by the fire stood the Weasley twins, Percy, a man she supposed was Charlie Weasley as he was the only Weasley she had yet to meet and of course Bill. Emily smiled slightly as Bill stared at her. She didn't understand why he hadn't joined the family huddle around Ginny and Mrs. Weasley yet.

Draco startled Emily as he placed his hand on her back directing her into a free chair by Professor McGonagall's desk. Emily closed her eyes briefly as she heard Mrs. Weasley's voice whisper "How?"

"I believe that is a tale I and many others would like to know," McGonagall breathed staring around the room, her eyes landing on Emily's blood covered body. Emily looked at the Professor but her eyes were drawn to the man standing behind her. There in the room stood Professor Dumbledore, eyes twinkling with joy. She supposed he had come back when he had been informed that a student had been taken.

Emily nodded her head and pushed her body to sit properly from the slouched position she had been in. For the next half hour Emily spoke to an attentive room that seemed to hang off her every word. She explained the voice she heard in the walls, how one night needing some peace she went to check on Fang only to end up following Harry and Weasley into the forest. She explained the clue Aragog had given them and how after, she had decided to try and figure out what the beast was. She explained that she had discovered it was a Basilisk and how she and Draco had come to find Harry and Weasley entering Lockhart's office, entering herself when she feared he might hurt them only to end up in Myrtle's bathroom opening the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets minutes later.

"So you all figured out where the Chamber was and broke about a hundred school rules while doing so," Professor McGonagall interrupted. "I think what is most important to know is how you all came back alive."

Here Harry began to talk. He told them about Fawkes' arrival with the Sorting hat and that Emily had somehow gotten the rapier, saving him from the Basilisk. Not once did he mention the diary or Ginny's involvement and that confused Emily. She went to speak up as many looked confused about the tale Harry was weaving but Dumbledore spoke before she could.

"I think what I am most curious about is how Voldemort enchanted Ginny when according to all my sources he is still hiding within the forests of Albania."

At the mention of Voldemort Mrs. Weasley began to panic. "No!, You-Know-Who didn't… but she is… Ginny wasn't… was she?" the woman looked desperately at the Headmaster.

"It was that diary," Harry said pointing at the black leather book now sitting on the desk. Emily shot Harry a confused look, why was he covering for the girl?

Dumbledore picked up the diary that was now covered in ink and began to examine it, opening it up he flipped through the soaked pages.

"Remarkable," Dumbledore spoke softly. "He was a very intelligent young man, one of the most talented students this school has ever seen." The men sat silently staring at the object in his hand, when Dumbledore finally looked up it was to see more than half of the room looking back at him with looks of bewilderment. "I'm sorry I got lost in thought for a moment. You see many people are unaware of the fact that Lord Voldemort was once a brilliant young student known by the name of Tom Riddle. I was his Transfiguration teacher when he attended school here fifty years ago. After leaving Hogwarts he took off to travel the world and study magic, only to fall into the temptations of the Dark Arts. His study went so deep he performed many dangerous rituals to become what we now know as Voldemort. His appearance has changed so much that people forget he was ever the bright boy who walked these halls and even held the title of Head Boy."

"I don't understand what this has to do with our Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said looking at her daughter who was still in her arms.

"W-when I w-wrote i-in his diary… h-he w-wrote back," Ginny managed to say through her sobs.

"Have you learned nothing from me?" Mr. Weasley said. "How many times have I told you to never trust something when you can't see where it keeps its brain? It was obviously a Dark object, why wouldn't you tell your mother or I, or even a teacher for that matter…"

Instead of answering Ginny shrugged and started sobbing harder hiding her head in her mother's chest.

"I believe that the Weasleys should all accompany Ginny to the hospital wing," Dumbledore instructed. "I think she needs a calming draught and to be looked over by Madam Pomfrey. I always find a nice cup of hot cocoa warms me and helps when I need cheering up," he said standing and heading to the door to open it for the Weasleys. "I think we can all agree she has suffered enough and there will be no punishment."

Emily stared at Dumbledore in disbelief. No punishment, that girl had knowingly continued to write in a diary and attack people long after she had realized what was going on instead of seeking help.

Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out of the room, one arm still tightly wrapped around the girl. The rest of the Weasley's followed after them. Bill being the last to leave walked over to Emily first squeezing her shoulder before following his family out the door.

"Minerva," Dumbledore said looking jovially at Professor McGonagall. "I think with the petrified students being awakened right now and the return of young Ginny from the Chamber that we are in need of a feast! Might I trouble you to alert our elves in the kitchens?"

"Of course," McGonagall replied nodding slightly before exiting her office.

Once she had gone Dumbledore walked back over to the desk and sat in McGonagall's chair. Emily noticed Draco was still standing and pulled out her wand elongating her seat so Draco could sit next to her. Dumbledore looked pleased with her spell work and beamed as he began to address the three students left in the room.

"I believe you all have done the unimaginable tonight. You found a legendary Chamber, slayed a Basilisk and saved not only Ginny Weasley but the school itself from being closed down. I believe you three along with young Ronald are deserving of awards for Special Services to Hogwarts and will each receive one hundred points for your respective Houses."

It was then that Dumbledore turned his focus onto the last remaining adult in the room, Lockhart.

"Why so silent Gilderoy?" Dumbledore sounded amused. "I was expecting you to regale us with your valiant exploits and role in this dangerous adventure."

Emily looked over to where Lockhart was standing in the corner of the room. She noticed he still had the two rocks from the tunnel and was playing with them. It was at this time she realized they had faces drawn on them and turned to Draco raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

Shrugging Draco simply replied, "I charmed them to have faces. It kept him busy so we could move the rocks."

Emily nodded smirking as she watched the once arrogant man acting out a scene between two rocks.

"Um Professor," Harry said turning away from watching Lockhart. "You see when we were in the tunnel Professor Lockhart…"

"I'm a Professor?" Lockhart said turning to look at Harry who was speaking. "I don't expect I was very helpful. Me a teacher... can you imagine?"

"Sadly, we can," Draco murmured just loud enough for Emily to hear.

"He attempted an obliviate using Ronald Weasley's wand and because it was broken the wand backfired, you can clearly see the result," Emily said gesturing to Lockhart who just smiled and waved at them all.

"I see," Dumbledore said running a hand down his beard. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind escorting Professor Lockhart to Madam Pomfrey's care, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco nodded, turning he hugged Emily whispering he would see her in their dorm soon. Standing Draco walked over to Lockhart before steering the confused man from the office.

"You both have had a very adventurous night it sounds," Dumbledore said. "It also seems that you have formed a small bond with Fawkes Emily." Emily smiled petting the red and gold phoenix that was currently perched on the arm of her chair.

"He saved my life," Emily said softly warmed by the trill that Fawkes sang.

Dumbledore's smiling face turned thoughtful as he looked at the twins, "So you both met a young Tom Riddle tonight. I imagine he was eager to know you…" Emily shivered thinking back to the Chamber, the touches and possessive look that she had seen in Tom Riddle's eyes. "Are you alright Emily," Dumbledore said looking worriedly at her.

"I'm just exhausted and a bit upset. It was a long night that could have been avoided if Ginny Weasley only would have gone for help," Emily replied. Dumbledore was about to speak when the door to the office burst open and an aristocratic man Emily recognized as Edmund Nott entered the office followed by a bandaged elf Emily and Harry knew well. It was Dobby.

Mr. Nott swept into the room acknowledging Emily briefly with a sharp nod of his head before turning to Dumbledore. Dobby rushed to keep up before cowering at Mr. Nott's side.

"Ah, good evening Edmund," Dumbledore said smiling pleasantly at the man. Dobby held a rag in his hands, hesitantly reaching forward to attempt to clean Mr. Nott's shoes but not sure if he was doing the right thing. It seemed as if Mr. Nott had left his home in a rush for one of his elves, that is not deemed fit to be seen by people, to have followed him to Hogwarts.

"I believe Lucius informed you of the governors' decision to suspend you but yet here you are," Mr. Nott said fixing Dumbledore with a cold stare.

"Ah that is explained quite simply," Dumbledore replied relaxing back in his chair. "I was contacted earlier today and informed that Arthur Weasley's youngest was killed and that I was to return to the school immediately. It seemed the other governors thought I was the best to handle the situation and called me back. You were the only governor I did not hear from actually, they had some very strange tales for me about you and threats made to their families…"

"Surely Lucius would not have contacted you," Mr. Nott said dismissing Dumbledore's last remark.

Dumbledore just smiled at him and leaned forward, "Is there something I can help you with Edmund?"

Mr. Nott seemed to fix his cloak collecting his thoughts before he spoke again. "So, I take it that you have solved the great mystery of who was behind all the attacks?"

"Yes, the culprit has been identified," Dumbledore said never losing his smile.

"And who was it?" Mr. Nott sneered.

"It was same person who opened it fifty years ago, Edmund. Though this time he acted in a different way using this old diary," Dumbledore held up the artifact, showing the man the ink soaked diary. Emily noticed Dobby was trying to get her and Harry's attention. He kept pointing to the diary and jerking his head toward Mr. Nott before pulling on his ear harshly.

"A name would be nice to take back to the governors," Mr. Nott said sharply losing his patience.

"Of course, it was Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore replied.

"You want me to believe the Dark Lord caused this. There must be a student that is accountable for the attacks," Mr. Nott pressed.

"Arthur Weasley's daughter was the child affected by the diary but she is in the hospital wing being looked over. Luckily, she is very much alive and the diary has been destroyed along with the beast. The school is safe, you should be happy Edmund," Dumbledore said.

"Thrilled," Mr. Nott replied, though Emily could tell he was anything but. "We are leaving, come Dobby!" Mr. Nott swooped from the room Dobby running after him.

Harry looked at the closing door before quickly turning to the headmaster. "May I borrow that," Harry said pointing to the diary. At Dumbledore's nod Harry grabbed the leather book and raced from the room.

Emily slumped back into her chair looking over at Dumbledore who was chuckling at the closed office door. "Your brother has a big heart Emily."

"He always has," Emily replied. "Though he is also a bit impulsive in his actions but I suspect that is part of being a Gryffindor."

Dumbledore laughed, "Yes us Gryffindors do tend to jump to action before thinking things all the way through at times."

"Ever happy to play the role of the heroes then," Emily teased.

"Ah, but my dear girl I believe you have been a hero in your own right."

Emily shrugged, "I protect my brother. We both are curious people but his curiosity seems to lead us into some crazy situations these last two years. Trolls, possessed teachers, cursed diaries… a Basilisk…"

"Your father was a curious person as were his friends, they got into quite a lot of trouble while here at Hogwarts, much like the Weasley twins if you will," Dumbledore told her. Emily smiled at the thought. She loved Fred and George and all their antics.She guessed she must have gotten her love of a good prank from her father. Sighing at her thoughts the witch realized just how weak her body felt.

"I think you should make your way down to your dorms. Food and a good night's rest will do you a lot of good. I on the other hand need to send out an owl so that we may get our gamekeeper back and begin my search for a new Defense professor. We do go through them quickly do we not…"

Emily smiled and stood up, "Food and sleep sound wonderful right now. Bye Professor."

"Goodbye my dear."

Emily made her way back to the dorms slowly. She supposed that though the phoenix tears had nullified the Basilisk venom in her blood it was going to take more than a few hours to feel one hundred percent again.

Once she made it to the dorms she found Draco waiting for her. He seemed to notice she was struggling to stand and moved to help her. He steered her towards the dorms, stopping at his room so Emily could grab a towel before she made her way to the bathroom the second year boys shared. Emily didn't need to worry about being disturbed by one of the boys as the rest of the House was already in the Great Hall having been called for the impromptu feast. The warm water felt refreshing and Emily was happy to wash the blood, ink and grime from her body. When she exited the shower and was drying off she noticed Draco had laid out her favorite sleep clothes for her, her black silk shorts and white V-neck t-shirt. He also had added a grey spaghetti strap to go under her shirt and a pair of green UGGs so she could go to the feast.

The feast itself was unlike any Emily had experienced before. It was a loud celebration with everyone dressed in their pajamas, lasting the entire night. A few minutes after Emily and Draco had arrived and sat down to eat, the students who had been petrified came running into the hall to join their friends. At three thirty in the morning Hagrid had joined the feast, he stopped by the Slytherin table to give Emily a hug and thank her for checking on Fang. The hall had erupted into cheers when Professor McGonagall had stood up and announced that all exams had been canceled.

At some point Draco had become lost in conversation with Blaise and Emily found herself snuggled into the arms of a certain fifth year Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory. It was a fun night and despite how it started its ending certainly made it one of the best nights of her life.

The rest of the term flew by. Hogwarts seemed back to normal with joy filled voices echoing through the corridors and students enjoying the sunbathed grounds. Of course all the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled and word spread that the Nott family had lost their seat as a school governor. Theo seemed annoyed more than anything but it didn't change his behavior from what Emily witnessed.

It wasn't long before Emily, Draco and Blaise were sharing a compartment on the Hogwarts Express speeding back towards London. The three spent their time playing exploding snap and eating sweets. Cedric had stopped by at one point to say hi and ask if he could write to Emily over the summer. The hours went by quickly and soon Emily and Draco were exiting the train walking towards Lucius and Narcissa who were waiting for them on the platform.

"Ready to go home," Narcissa asked after both adults had given them each a hug. In answer Emily took Lucius' hand and nodded while Draco took Narcissa's.

"Hold tight," Lucius cautioned and with two pops they all vanished from the platform.


	33. Owl Post

**33**

 **Owl Post**

Emily Potter sat in her room, leaning against her headboard as she stared at the flames dancing in the fireplace across the room. The book she had been reading lay open and forgotten on the bed next to her. A tapping at the window caught her attention. Casting a quick tempus as she moved to open the window, allowing the awaiting owls into her room, she noticed it was now midnight. A smile crossed her face she was now officially thirteen.

Of course, Emily was not your average thirteen year old. She was a witch who had finished her second year of magical education at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry just a few weeks ago. It was her second birthday separated from her twin brother Harry who was currently staying with their aunt and uncle in Surrey. He had refused to join her at the Malfoy family manor for a second summer. She missed her brother but they had drifted apart when they began attending Hogwarts. The witch had promised herself after this last year that she would start distancing herself away from Harry, if he didn't wish to be a part of her life after everything she had done, then it was time to start accepting it. Especially after he protected the Weasley girl for the Chamber incident.

Emily was startled from her thoughts when her bedroom door was thrown open by her best friend, Draco Malfoy exclaiming, "Happy birthday!" The blonde threw himself onto her bed, "Mipsy is bringing us some cake to celebrate."

"It's midnight, I could have been asleep," Emily said climbing back onto the bed.

"It's your birthday, you are never asleep at midnight on your birthday," Draco pointed out. Emily turned her head as her door opened again, this time Mipsy entered carrying two plates of chocolate cake.

"Happy birthday Mistress," the elf said handing her a plate with a small bow.

"Thank you Mipsy, I'm sorry Draco made you get up to bring us cake."

Draco snorted as Mipsy energetically replied, "Mipsy is happy to help Mistress on her birthday."

"Well thank you Mipsy. You may go now." The elf bowed once more and popped out of the room. Taking a bite of the cake Emily moaned. "This is delicious," she said pointing to the cake with her fork.

"I know. You should open up your gifts."

Nodding Emily set her plate aside after taking one more large bite and reached for the package closest to her noticing the writing immediately.

 _Our Dearest Emmykins,_

 _Greetings from Egypt! We would say surprise but we have spied a familiar black owl delivering mail to a certain older curse breaking brother of ours. Sooo, we will just tell you that Egypt is great!_

 _Bill has been showing us around his work sites and we have even gone into a few of the tombs. Sadly, our mom caught us trying to lock Percy in the last one we visited but can you really blame us for trying? He has become unbearable since he received his Head Boy badge. Yes, you heard right our pompous rule loving brother is Head Boy. You can tell we are overjoyed…_ __

 _We have a few potion recipes that we attached for you to look over. We should be home in a few days. Mom isn't too happy, she wanted to stay another two weeks but Bill is being sent on a private job through Gringotts so we are heading home._

 _Anyway, we wanted to wish you a happy birthday!_

 _HAPPY BIRTHDAY!_

 _Your favorite magnificent pranksters,_

 _Gred and Forge_ __

Inside the package she found a statue of the goddess Isis who she had named her snake after and the usual pack of blood pops.

" _ **The twinsss got you a statue of your namesssake…**_ " Emily hissed as she got off the bed to put the statue by Isis who was relaxing by the fire on her pillow.

" _ **It looksss funny missstress…**_ " Isis said flicking her tongue out to taste the statue. " _ **It tasstesss horrible…**_ "

" _ **It isssn't food**_ ," Emily hissed holding back her laughter.

" _ **Then what do I do with it missstress…**_ "

" _ **You are meant to admire it**_ ," Emily replied her laughter partially sounded like hissing as she moved back to the bed.

"What's so funny?"

"She thought the statue was for her to eat."

Draco laughed, "I doubt that would be a pleasant meal. You should keep opening gifts you have a few more people who seem to know your tradition."

"And where is your gift?"

"You get to open it tomorrow when Uncle Sev is here." Emily nodded and opened the next letter.

 _Em,_

 _Happy Birthday!_

 _I hope your week is going well. I'm looking forward to seeing you again in a few days. I wish I could be there today but I'm sadly stuck visiting my mom's family for the week. It's boring here but I promise to visit again once I'm back._

 _Yours,_

 _Cedric_

Emily passed the note to Draco as she opened the gift. He had sent her a book on Ancient Greek rituals. It looked intriguing, she hadn't studied much into Greek rituals.

"Well he seems to know of your love for rituals in ancient cultures," Draco said taking the book and flipping through it.

"Yeah, it's not a book I have already. It should be a good read. Maybe I can find a book on modern rituals used in Greece and compare them."

"I swear, by the time we graduate you will have a library larger than Hogwarts'."

Emily shrugged as she reached for the next gift. At once Emily noticed the untidy script and smiled.

 _Em,_

 _Happy birthday! I hope you and Draco are enjoying your summer. I thought you might find this to be useful for one of your classes this year…_

 _Hagrid_

Curious as to what Hagrid sent that could be of use in one of her classes, she reached for the parcel unwrapping it to find a green leather book. It seemed to give a shake before snapping at Draco's hand as he reached out to touch it. Shocked Emily and Draco froze staring at the odd book. They quickly recovered as the book began to repeatedly snap at them. The book turned towards Emily and appeared to be moving, she quickly grabbed for her wand stunning it.

She knew Hagrid would never intentionally send her something that could hurt her but while understanding that she reminded herself that Hagrid seemed to not assess danger as most other people did, he seemed to think sending second years into a nest of acromantulas was a safe endeavor.

"What in the name of Merlin did he send you?" Draco breathed.

Picking up the book to examine it Emily responded, "The Monster Book of Monsters."

"Sounds like something he would send," the blonde remarked. "You might want to somehow restrain it because the stupefy will wear off."

"Could I use one of your belts? I think that might be the best option…"

Nodding Draco called out, "Mipsy."

"Really you wake my elf? She already was woken up once by you to bring us cake." Shrugging Draco turned to the elf that had popped into the room and instructed her on what belt she was to retrieve for him. She returned quickly handing the belt to Draco who then passed it on to Emily.

"I'm sorry Draco keeps interrupting your sleep Mipsy, you can get some rest now," Emily said softly to her tired looking elf.

"Mipsy is happy to help Mistress," the little elf said with a bow before popping out of the room.

"You could have woken Tippy. I'm sure he is used to your demanding needs all twenty four hours of the day."

"Ha… ha… ha…" Draco said dryly.

"Oh you're high maintenance and you know it."

"Yes, well, you have one more gift left and if I'm right it is from a certain red haired curse breaker who will be visiting us in a few days."

Emily rolled her eyes at Draco. He loved to tease her about Bill and the multiple letters they sent to each other weekly. He was certain it would only be a year or two before the image Emily had seen in the Mirror of Erised became reality.

Opening the envelope confetti exploded all over her bed.

 _Em,_

 _Happy Birthday!_

 _I hope you have a great day celebrating with the Malfoys and I hope you know that I expect you to eat an extra piece of cake for me! As for life here in Egypt, not much has changed since the last letter I sent you._

 _My mom is still upset that her invasion of my home for the entire summer is not possible because I need to do the wards at the manor. Not that I have told her that the job is in England. If I did she would insist that I stay with them at the Burrow and I am ready for some solitude again. I love my family but I forgot how loud everything can be with all nine of us under the same roof._

 _Charlie I'm used to, he is constantly visiting me on his days off from the reserve and I thought he was loud… I certainly won't be complaining about him ruining my peace on his next visit. Speaking of my dragon taming brother, he is still trying to find out who the mysterious person I am constantly writing to is._ __

 _I'd tell him but I find it amusing letting him guess. Fred and George have joined in having recognized Apollo._

 _I don't know if they told you yet but they tried locking Percy in one of the older tombs. I couldn't stop laughing which only made mom angrier. I really hope I didn't act like him when I was Head Boy._ __

 _Yes, I was Head Boy when I was at Hogwarts. And no making fun of me because with your study habits you will probably be Head Girl in your seventh year!_

 _Anyway, I better go. Percy is yelling about something, which means that is Charlie's and my cue to duck out of the house for a bit._

 _Happy Birthday… again,_

 _Bill_

 _P.S. Enjoy the confetti!_ __

Emily laughed hoping Bill found solace from his crowded house as she began opening the gift he sent. Inside she found a beautiful bracelet that was made of many little silver snakes, in between each snake was a small emerald connecting them together. Emily loved it and quickly showed it to Draco to admire as well. It wasn't much longer before both teens were yawning and curling up under the covers of Emily's bed falling fast asleep.

Miles away on Privet Drive Harry Potter was sound asleep in his bed, a note clutched tightly in his hand…

 _It's almost midnight, Happy Birthday_

 _Em_ __


	34. Brothers and Curse Breakers

**34**

 **Brothers and Curse Breakers**

The day after Emily's birthday found her lazily lying on her stomach upon her bed with her legs bent up in the air swinging back and forth as she nibbled on the end of her quill. Despite her intentions she had yet to finish a single thank you letter to her friends for her many gifts. She was distracted, Lucius and Severus had been acting oddly since breakfast the day before. She could tell they were hiding something from her but as it had been her birthday she didn't press either man for more information.

Emily laughed as she glanced over to Isis who was once again inspecting the statue of her namesake sent by the Weasley twins. She kept examining it as if she was sure there was a greater purpose for the object. After a while she would give up her staring contest with the figure and remark " _ **sssilly humanssss…**_ " before curling back up on her pillow.

Just as Isis gave up, a knock at her bedroom door drew Emily's attention. Recognizing the two magical signatures easily Emily called them into her room. The door opened emitting Lucius and Severus who closed the door behind them making their way towards her. Severus sat on the bench at the foot of the bed while Lucius settled next to Emily.

"Deciding what to write to William again?" Lucius asked slightly amused. "Or perhaps you're writing that Diggory boy?"

"Diggory… the sixth year Hufflepuff?" Severus scoffed, "I would prefer the Curse Breaker, even if he was a Gryffindor."

"I would prefer that no boys were vying for her attention yet."

Severus hummed in agreement before looking at Emily who was staring between the two men.

"Wait what are you on about?" Emily asked following Lucius' gaze to the blank parchment in front of her. "Oh, I was writing thank you letters for my gifts but I got distracted."

"I see. Well I think you can put this aside for a moment, Severus and I wanted to speak with you."

Emily nodded and without thinking waved her hand sending the parchment and writing utensils to her side table. Severus and Lucius both raised an eyebrow at the action while sharing a look. Both men doubted Emily even realized she had cast magic without using her wand.

Emily rolled onto her side as she looked at the two men, "Okay, what do you guys want to talk about?"

"Sirius Black," Severus said.

"Who?" Emily asked trying to figure out why the name sounded so familiar.

"Sirius Black," Lucius repeated pulling out a newspaper and handing it to Emily.

Emily stared at the picture of a man that took up most of the front page. She was rendered speechless as she took in the man's appearance. He had long black hair that fell to his shoulders, his face was gaunt which Emily concluded came from being confined and denied proper care for a long period of time. Despite the obvious drawn and worn look of the man there was no doubt in Emily's mind that this was the man she had dreamt of for years, the man who had promised to come back for her and Harry.

"This is the man who was charged with betraying your parents to Voldemort. He has spent the last twelve years in Azkaban but yesterday it was discovered that he has broken out of the prison. He is the first person to ever do so," Lucius said watching Emily carefully for her reaction.

Azkaban, that explained the man's appearance. She had heard the effects dementors had on the prisoners, driving them to insanity and depriving them of any happy thoughts. Emily couldn't help but think that for a man who had been exposed to dementors for twelve years his eyes seemed to hold a certain clarity.

"He betrayed my parents?" Emily asked. In her dreams the man seemed so devastated. She could not picture the man who had kissed her head and whispered his love for her and Harry ever betraying her family.

Severus made a scoffing sound and stared out the window as Lucius shot him a warning glance before turning back to Emily. "In truth we are not sure," Lucius told her.

"What do you mean, you're not sure?" Emily said pulling her eyes away from the picture to look at Lucius.

"You remember when we told you that one day we would have to tell you of our past?" seeing Emily nod Lucius continued. "To explain our uncertainty we have to tell you about what happened during the last war and our part in it."

"Emily you cannot tell anyone what we are about to tell you. We will be having a conversation with Draco so he will know as well, but your safety and ours relies on you both keeping these secrets," Severus told her.

"I understand," Emily replied.

"When I was growing up there were expectations my father held for me. I was to be a proper pureblood and behave as any good heir to the House of Malfoy would. One of those expectations was that I would join the Dark Lord's ranks when I reached my final year at Hogwarts. At the age of seventeen I was presented to the Dark Lord and marked by him at the express wishes of my father."

"Marked?" Emily asked confused by the term. Lucius rolled up his sleeve revealing a tattoo that Emily had never noticed before. It seemed somewhat faded and Emily wondered if it was just due to time or magic.

"I was forced to participate in the raids or endure torture, not only at the hands of the Dark Lord but my father as well. I felt trapped but there was nothing I could do at the time, Narcissa and I were wed as soon as she graduated, my focus was on trying to protect her," Lucius began.

Emily could see he looked haunted as he thought of his past. "When Narcissa was pregnant I knew I needed to do more to protect her and our child. I may not agree with Dumbledore on many things but he was the only person I felt could offer some kind of end to the Dark Lord's rise. I approached him offering my services as a spy as long as he promised to protect Narcissa and my child should such a time come. He agreed, I was a good asset, my father had recently passed away and I was chosen to take his place as second in command within the Inner Circle."

Severus cleared his throat and Emily turned her attention to the dark man. "I also became a spy though I was not in the service of the Dark Lord as long as Lucius. He was a few years older than I and the Dark Lord did not tend to mark people until they graduated. I was approached to join as I was finishing my mastery in potions. As you know I was the youngest potions master in England and that caught his attention. I was young and foolish, drawn in by his power and promises. But he made a mistake," Severus paused and looked Emily in the eyes, "he went after something I could never allow him to destroy."

"My mother," Emily whispered.

Severus nodded, "I had overhead the beginning of a prophecy and the Dark Lord concluded that it referred to you and decided that he would hunt your family down."

"Wait the centaurs in my first year called me the 'child of prophecy'. What does the prophecy say?" Emily asked.

"No one really knows the whole prophecy except Dumbledore and he refuses to tell it to me in its entirety. I am led to believe that it proclaims you able to end the Dark Lord but prophecies are never certain and I know very little of what it actually says."

Emily nodded accepting his answer. Maybe she could convince Dumbledore to tell her. She doubted that Voldemort was sitting around happy with his current lot in life meaning he likely was quietly finding a way to return after being denied the Sorcerer's Stone in her first year.

"Once I had learned his intentions to attack your family I approached Lucius, who I had become close to, asking him for help knowing I could be risking my life if he turned me into the Dark Lord. Instead he sent me to Dumbledore who agreed to take me on as a spy and hide your family away from harm."

"This is where Sirius Black comes into the story," Lucius picked up. "He was your father's best friend. They were inseparable, ever since they started at Hogwarts it was hard to find one without the other. They had two other friends in their group Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Due to Sirius and James' closeness everyone assumed Sirius was their Secret Keeper. In the chaos of the Dark Lord's downfall he was shipped off to Azkaban, when the dust cleared we were all told you and Harry had been sent to muggle relatives for your safety."

"Dumbledore proclaimed Severus a spy of the 'Light' and protected him from Azkaban knowing he had very few connections to save himself at the time. It was decided that I would claim guilty through influence of the 'Imperius' curse. If the Dark Lord was to come back Severus could claim to have used Dumbledore's forgiveness and need for second chances as an opportunity to spy on the man and no one would be the wiser about my position."

"The doubt of Black's guilt comes from the fact that neither I nor Lucius ever saw him at any of the meetings or with the Dark Lord," Severus spoke up.

"Sirius Black is also Narcissa's cousin, she is a Black by birth. Sirius ran from his family to move in with the Potters at the end of his sixth year refusing to be marked and serve the Dark Lord. He wanted nothing to do with the Death Eaters," Lucius said. "Something else to take into account is that he was accused of murdering one of his best friends, Peter Pettigrew, but they only ever found a finger of said man, nothing else."

"Loath as I am to admit it, Black was undyingly loyal to his friends. It doesn't fit that he would sell them out even if it meant giving up his own life," Emily noticed it pained Severus to speak these words and she couldn't help wondering why he hated the man so much but she knew better than to ask at the moment. "Nevertheless, there is not much either of us can do without jeopardizing our positions. The Dark Lord will return. The fact that our marks are still on our arms is proof enough."

"Emily, we tell you all of this because it is likely now that he is free of Azkaban, Sirius will attempt to find you and Harry," Severus added.

"Be careful and always aware, though we question his guilt there is always a possibility that he is in fact guilty. We want you safe Princess," Lucius said pulling Emily into his side.

The week passed and life at Malfoy Manor was back to normal. Now that Severus and Lucius had explained to Emily their concerns and stories they were no longer acting oddly around her, though her dreams had taken an odd turn. It was almost as if she was seeing memories of when she was a baby. The man she now knew was named Sirius Black was in them though everyone in the dreams seemed to refer to him as Padfoot.

Emily didn't dwell on it much though because she was excited that Bill would be coming the next day to work on the wards. Even though they wrote to each other several times a week she was eager to see him in person for the third time since they met a year ago.

It was as they were sitting down to dinner that they were interrupted by one of the many house elves.

"Master, Blinky is sorry for disturbing dinner but Mister Fudgey be saying he needs you in the fire," the little elf said.

"Thank you Blinky I will be right there," Lucius said as he stood excusing himself to the Floo room.

A few minutes later Lucius entered the room and retook his seat at the head of the table. "Emily have you heard from your brother at all?" he asked before taking a bite of his steak.

"No," Emily answered looking from Lucius to Draco who just shrugged his shoulders at her. "Is something wrong?"

"That was Minister Fudge just now and obliviators have had to be dispatched to your old home after Harry performed accidental magic."

"Is he in trouble?" Emily asked setting down her fork. "He can't still be at the Dursley's."

"He was picked up by the Knight Bus and had just arrived at the Leaky Cauldron when we broke the fire call. The magic was purely an accident based on his emotions. He did not cast a spell so he broke no laws, though he did inflate your Uncle's sister. She was found floating over Surrey, it seems the muggles assumed she was a large balloon. The Accidental Magic Reversal Squad has had to puncture her and her memory was modified."

Emily couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Harry blowing up Marge. She was a horrid woman who hated her and Harry, often bringing Dudley extravagant gifts while giving the twins dog treats or tissues. She loved to remind the twins that they were no good and that they would amount to nothing in society like their parents. Emily lost count of how many times she suggested Uncle Vernon dump them at the local orphanage.

"I hope you told him that we would take the boy in," Narcissa told Lucius.

"Of course, love. I made it clear we were happy to have him here and Fudge will be offering him the choice to stay with us."

"A choice, where else would he go?" Narcissa asked setting down her own fork, now focused on what her husband was saying.

"Apparently his other option is to remain at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Alone," Narcissa's tone showed how irritated she was that they would allow a thirteen year old to stay by himself at the pub.

"At his age he is allowed a choice of who he lives with. Fudge should be calling back soon enough," Lucius said taking his wife's hand. "Emily, Draco why don't you two go and spend some time in your rooms while we deal with this and I will update you both in the morning."

The teens nodded and stood to leave the dining room.

"Finish the game of chess?" Draco offered.

"Only if you're ready to lose," Emily countered.

"Race you," Draco called as he took off running towards Emily's room where their latest chess match was set up. By the time the two teens had fallen asleep their chess match lay abandoned by the fire and candy wrappers littered the bedspread. Though Draco had done his best to distract Emily when her head hit the pillow that night she couldn't help but hope that tomorrow there would be more than one guest in the house.

The next morning at breakfast Emily was disappointed to learn that Harry had chosen to stay at the Leaky Cauldron. Lucius had told her that if she wished he would take her to talk to Harry to try and convince him to come live at the manor. The choice was easy, despite having decided a few weeks ago to not interfere with Harry surely now he had to see reason, once Emily was dressed Lucius and Emily flooed to the Leaky Cauldron.

The pub was relatively empty due to the early hour. Lucius walked towards the barman and spoke to him quietly before moving back over to where Emily was waiting by the fireplace.

"He is in room eleven. I am going to stay down here and give you some time to talk. When you are ready to leave I will be at that table waiting for you," Lucius said pointing to a table in the corner of the room.

Nodding Emily made her way to the stairs and down the hallway until she was standing outside the room marked eleven. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door and waited. When Harry opened the door he looked shocked to see her standing outside his door. "Emily, what are you doing here?"

"I was hoping we could talk," Emily said offering a nervous smile.

"Sure…" Harry hesitantly replied as he opened the door further to allow Emily into the room.

Emily surveyed the room. There was a queen sized four poster bed to her left and on the right was a large fireplace with a couch in front of it. By the window was a wardrobe and Emily noticed Hedwig was perched on top of it. "Cozy," she remarked as she made her way to the couch and sat down.

"Yeah," Harry commented as he seated himself at the other end of the couch. After a few minutes of awkward silence Harry spoke, "Why are you here?"

Emily sighed and turned her gaze from the fire to Harry. "I want you to come and stay at the manor with me."

"Emily I already told you I don't want to live with the Malfoys."

"And what is wrong with the Malfoys?" Emily's tone becoming defensive immediately.

"They aren't good people Emily, they're evil! Ron told me that the only reason Malfoy's dad isn't in prison is because he bought his way out of it! He worked for Voldemort," Harry exclaimed running a hand through his already messy hair. "You may be comfortable there but I can't live with people like that!"

"You haven't even properly met them and you are accusing them of being bad people. Harry, they have practically adopted me and they would be happy to do the same for you. I can promise you no one in that home is evil," Emily countered.

"Ron told me they were working for the man that killed our parents! How can someone be a loyal follower of Voldemort and not be evil? Ron said that –"

"What does it matter what Ron says? I am your sister and I am telling you that the Malfoys are good people who genuinely would be happy to have you in their home," Emily said interrupting him.

"Of course you say that you're a Slytherin, Malfoy is your best friend!"

"What does being Slytherin have to do with anything?"

"Ron told me that there wasn't a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin."

"Do you only ever do what Ron says? Is the world supposed to be black and white? Because I am a Slytherin I must be evil as well? You cannot tell me that only Slytherins followed Voldemort! Harry you are blinded by your friend's prejudices!"

"I am not!"

"Then why do you keep telling me what Ronald Weasley has spouted to you? Why not listen to me, someone who has lived with them for two summers now?"

"Ron isn't the only person who doesn't like the Malfoys. They are stuck up purebloods who think people of lesser blood status are below them! He called Ron a blood traitor, he sneers at Hermione and most of the other muggleborns," Harry said glaring at Emily daring her to deny it.

"Draco isn't fond of muggleborns, I will give you that. Though neither am I if we are being completely honest but do you have any idea why?"

"Because they aren't purebloods."

"No, it is because they have been getting rid of our old traditions like Samhain and Yule, replacing them with Halloween and Christmas. They bring their prejudices from the muggle world into the magical one. They threaten our existence every time they want to tell someone back home of magic."

"You sound like them. Next you are going to say you hate muggles."

"I don't hate Muggles but you and I both know the downside of muggles knowing about us. Their fear causes them to harm us. You could be happy at the manor! You will have your own room and we can go flying on the Quidditch pitch. I am not an idiot Harry, I know you were locked in your room last summer, Fred and George told me."

"It wasn't that bad, I've only been hit twice since going back. They are afraid, especially after I was broken out by magic last year, that I am being watched more carefully. They took the locks off the door."

"Out of fear but what happens when they get comfortable and realize no one is waiting to swoop in and save you? What happens when you return next summer after blowing up Marge?"

"You won't convince me that living with the Malfoys is better than being with the Dursleys," Harry replied flatly.

"Why because their evil?" Emily snapped.

"Yes."

"You truly believe the Malfoys are the evil ones, they have given me a home and a family never once have they raised a hand or wand to hurt me, yet every summer you return to the Dursleys who beat us, forced us to live in a cupboard and often starved us?" When Harry just shrugged Emily knew there was no talking sense into her brother. She stood and made her way to the door stopping to turn, looking Harry straight in the eyes. "Fine, I get it. I'm just a snake now and my opinion means less than that of a red headed ponce who is barely doing better in his classes then Crabbe and Goyle!"

With that Emily opened the door slamming it as hard as she could behind her and quickly making her way back down the stairs. She walked over to where Lucius was sitting, her face an emotionless mask. At Lucius' raised eyebrow she shook her head slightly. Sighing Lucius stood and led her over to the fireplace allowing her to floo first.

Once in the manor Emily left the floo room intent on heading to her bedroom. She just wanted to be alone. The witch was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she missed the new magical signature walking right into someone. Expecting to fall Emily was shocked when she felt arms wrap around her steadying her.

"In a hurry?" Emily heard the voice chuckle, she instantly knew the owner of the voice. Shaking her head she allowed herself to hug the man back and relax as his hold tightened around her.

"When did you get in?" Emily asked pulling away to straighten out her clothes.

"About fifteen minutes ago. My family vacated my home yesterday so I was able to come earlier than I had told you."

"Do you have to get working on the wards right away?" Emily asked smiling up at the curse breaker forgetting how angry she had been just moments before.

"The goblins took pity on me and gave me a few days off to unwind after my family's visit. Mr. Malfoy has kindly offered for me to stay here so there is no rush."

"It will be good to have you around. I'm sure Apollo will enjoy the rest," Emily said as she led Bill down the hall.

"Probably," Bill laughed before his face turned serious. "Is everything okay? You seemed upset when you ran into me."

Emily had to use her occlumency to keep down her blush, "It's just my brother. We got into a fight this morning and… we just view things so differently, he takes everything your little brother says as truth. He trusts him more than me because I'm a Slytherin and he's a Gryffindor..."

"Emily!" Turning Emily was surprised to see Cedric making his way towards her. He wrapped his arms around her, spinning her in a circle before putting her back down.

"Ced, what are you doing here?"

"We got home yesterday and I wanted to visit you," his eyes looking from Emily to Bill.

"Oh, um Cedric this is William Weasley heir to House Weasley. Bill this is Cedric Diggory heir to the Noble House Diggory," Emily said watching as the two seemed to be sizing the other up.

"Nice to meet you," Bill said nodding his head slightly in recognition of the younger boy. "I think I'm going to get started on the wards. We can finish this chat tonight, okay?"

At Emily's nod Bill offered her a smile before sweeping back down the hallway. Emily couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as the calm that had surrounded her seemed to leave with him.

Turning back to Cedric who was smiling at her, she took his outstretched hand as they made their way to Emily's room while he recounted his trip to Greece with his family.


	35. Dementors

**35**

 **The Dementor**

Bill had been at the manor for four days and Emily was sad that he would be leaving the next day to return to his job site in Egypt. The two had spent most of Bill's time at the manor together, a detail that had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the household. In fact Draco, tired of being 'ignored', had gone to Diagon Alley without Emily to collect his school supplies with their friend and Slytherin year mate Blaise Zabini.

That was why Emily and Bill currently found themselves spending Bill's last day of vacation in Diagon Alley. Feeling bad that Draco had 'ditched' Emily because of him Bill offered to take Emily shopping for her school supplies. Diagon Alley was relatively busy as September first was drawing near and many people were out shopping for their return to Hogwarts.

Emily had spied Harry sitting at a table outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. He had not noticed them as he appeared to be busy working on his summer schoolwork and eating an ice cream sundae. Emily still angry over the fight they had only days ago had allowed herself to fall behind Bill slightly so that he could block her from Harry's view as they entered Gringotts.

After a quick trip down to her vault they decided to head to Flourish and Blotts first. As they entered the shop Emily was thankful that it was much less crowded than last year and lacked a certain blonde dunce signing books filled with lies.

A disheveled looking sales assistant made his way towards them pulling on large leather gloves.

"Hogwarts?" he asked. At Emily's nod he began making his way towards a large metal cage. "Move, out of the way please," he instructed trying to reach the cage that Emily could now see was filled with The Monster Book of Monsters.

"I already have one of those," she called out to the assistant who looked extremely relieved at the statement.

"Thank Merlin," he said pulling off his gloves. "I don't know what possessed someone to pick out that terror of a book but it is worse than when we ordered a hundred copies of the Invisible Book of Invisibility!"

Emily and Bill shared a smile behind the man's back as he shook his head walking off further into the store muttering about ridiculous books and the idiocy of people who created them.

"Well I guess we are on our own," Bill said. "Let's see what you need to get… you are taking three new courses?"

"Yeah, Draco talked me into taking Care of Magical Creatures with him. We had both agreed to take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes but he found out that Blaise signed up for Divination and CoMC," Emily said as she pulled down her new Defense book from the shelf.

"So… naturally you must take CoMC because Blaise is?"

"Even though he hasn't admitted it aloud yet I am pretty sure Draco has a crush on Blaise," Emily answered moving to find the rest of her texts while grabbing books with titles that caught her interest.

Bill laughed as he reached up for a book Emily was attempting to grab that was out of her reach. "So you get to enjoy CoMC, lucky you. I never took it but Charlie did and he loved it."

"Of course he did, he works with dragons, magical creatures are his life," Emily pointed out as they made their way to pay for the books. "You know I need to meet your brother. He is the only one I haven't met but he is the one you talk about the most."

Emily quickly paid for her purchases before turning her attention back to Bill.

"Maybe I will convince him to come next summer if he has guessed who I have been writing to by then," Bill said holding the door open for Emily as they made their way from Flourish and Blotts to the apothecary.

Emily and Bill spent the next two hours finishing up their shopping before Bill insisted they go into muggle London for lunch.

"I'm starving, do you realize how long we were in the apothecary," Bill said as he looked over his menu.

"I needed a lot of ingredients that aren't in the third year set," Emily replied as she set down her menu already knowing what she wanted to order.

"How often do you brew outside of class?"

"A few days a week, I enjoy it. I often help Fred and George with their creations for fun as well."

"They are quite the pair. I was thankful that they didn't experiment in my house when they were visiting…" Bill paused and looked up as the waiter came to take their orders. Emily ordered shrimp fettuccine alfredo while Bill ordered chicken parmigiana. Once the waiter was a safe distance away the two resumed their conversation.

"Anyway, I think mum was glad that Fred and George weren't locked in a room 'blowing things up'. She is afraid they won't pass their OWLs this year and keeps trying to get them to listen to Percy who is only too happy to give them a speech on proper study habits."

"The twins are really quite brilliant. Their passion just doesn't lie within textbooks, they need to be creating and inventing it's who they are."

"And I love them for it but it is going to give my mum a heart attack when she realizes they have no intention of changing their dreams so they can work at the ministry pushing paperwork as she would like them to."

"Was that what she wanted for you as well?"

"Of course, Charlie too, but you can see how well her pestering worked…"

"Yes you ran off to Egypt and Charlie to Romania."

After lunch they spent most of their afternoon joking and enjoying each other's company as they browsed through various shops in muggle London. That night when Emily went to bed she felt oddly hollow with the knowledge that when she awoke Bill would already be back in Egypt. When he was around it was almost as if her magic hummed in contentment. Over the past few days she was surprised by how much comfort his presence brought her. Pushing those thoughts aside Emily closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

The rest of summer passed quickly for Emily. Cedric visited often, she had been growing closer to the handsome sixteen year old. Draco was sure the Hufflepuff wanted to ask her out. Of course she had to admit she would not be opposed to such a thing but she wasn't certain Cedric wanted to date her. He was going into his sixth year why would he date her, a third year, when he could easily date any girl in the school with his looks and charm.

The night before Emily was to return to Hogwarts she found herself as usual eating dinner with the Malfoys and Severus.

"Are you both packed and ready for tomorrow?" Lucius asked as he took a sip of his wine.

"Of course we are," Draco replied. "We both packed this afternoon. Do you know who the new Defense teacher is?"

Lucius shared a look with Severus before answering, "Remus Lupin."

The name sounded familiar to Emily and she tried to place where she heard it before when it hit her, "He was one of my father's best friends? You mentioned him when you talked to me."

"We did," Severus confirmed.

"You're not happy about this," Emily stated looking at the closed off face of her mentor.

"Not particularly, no," he replied looking down as he stabbed a piece of steak a little harder than necessary.

Emily looked to Draco who shrugged his shoulders and gave her a look that told her he had no idea why Severus seemed upset over this man coming to Hogwarts. Deciding now was not the best time to press for information Emily decided to change the topic. "What is the password to get into your rooms?" she asked.

"Oculus autem serpens ad mulierem."

"So... roughly translated that means 'eye of the snake'," Emily said.

"I'm glad you tell us, because your passwords would be impossible to guess," Draco commented.

"That's the point of a password Dray," Emily teased. Draco rolled his eyes at his best friend before returning to his meal.

Emily awoke the next morning to Mipsy waking her with her usual cup of coffee. She was very grateful for her elf and knew that come tomorrow morning when she was back at Hogwarts she would be missing her greatly.

"Master says Mistress needs to be ready in half an hour." Emily nodded and started climbing out of the bed walking towards her bathroom as she sipped her coffee.

"Mipsy can you take my trunk to the Floo room for me, please?"

"Of course, Mistress." Emily heard the elf pop away as she started the shower.

Hurrying through her morning routine so she wouldn't exceed her time limit Emily walked out of her closet to find a plate with bacon and half a toasted bagel with cream cheese on it. Obviously it was later than she thought if they weren't having breakfast in the dining room. Picking up a piece of bacon she spun around as the door to her room was thrown open.

"I can't believe Tippy woke me up so late!" Draco complained as he came in also holding a plate of food.

Emily shrugged as she swallowed a piece of bacon, "Probably has something to do with us being up until one in the morning."

"True," Draco acknowledged. "But only a half hour to get ready… I had to rush my hair what is Blaise going to think?"

Emily raised an eyebrow at her best friend in amusement, "And why do you care what Blaise thinks?"

Draco shot a glare at her changing the subject, "Will Cedric be joining us on the train."

"I don't know," Emily answered. "He probably wants to sit with his friends not in a compartment with third years."

Before Draco could make a comment Mipsy popped into the room. "You's both be needed in the Floo room. Leave plates, Mipsy will clean them," the elf instructed the two teens who quickly stood up making their way out of Emily's bedroom.

When they reached the Floo room Emily was surprised to see Severus there. Last year he had left quickly after breakfast to get back to Hogwarts to prepare for the students arrival. She hadn't been expecting him at all this year as he had collected Isis last night and taken her to Hogwarts with him.

"There you two are," Narcissa said waving them over to fuss over them.

"Love they are fine," Lucius stated with obvious amusement.

"We need to get going," Severus pointed out. "We need to beat the crowd."

Nodding Lucius turned to the two teens, "Draco you are going with Sev, Emily you are going with Cissa and I will take your trunks, okay?" Neither Emily nor Draco were sure as to why Severus was going with them to the platform but moved to the adult they were directed to.

"Not that I am upset about it but why are you coming with us?" Draco asked looking up at his godfather.

"We have decided it was best with everything going on. Lupin will also be on the train but we will all feel better if I am with you both," he answered holding out his arm for Draco to grab on to.

Once they appeared on the still deserted platform Draco and Emily were quickly ushered into an empty compartment. Lucius tucked their trunks away while Narcissa kissed them both wishing them a good year.

"Behave and don't annoy Severus too much before you get to Hogwarts," said Lucius amusement clear in his voice at the fact that his best friend was going to spend the next few hours in tight quarters with teenagers.

"I'm quite used to it. It seems every year my quarters are over run by these two more and more," Severus said nodding towards Emily and Draco.

"We can behave but we cannot guarantee Sev's sanity as I am uncertain as to its existence to begin with," Emily smirked.

"Insufferable brat," Severus said, the corners of his lips giving away his amusement.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway," Emily shot back with a big smile.

Lucius chuckled before kissing Emily's head and squeezing Draco's shoulder, "Have a fun ride you three."

Lucius followed his wife out of the compartment sliding the door closed behind him. Severus pulled out a book as he went to shut the blinds.

"You can't close them yet," Draco shouted before covering his mouth when he realized how loud he was being.

"He wants to make sure Blaise can find him," Emily smirked. Severus raised an eyebrow as he looked towards the blonde teenager who was trying not to blush. "He has a crush on him but refuses to admit it."

"Em!" Draco exclaimed glaring at his best friend. His look changed quickly though and a smug smile came over his face as he crossed his arms, "Why don't you tell him about Diggory?"

Emily rolled her eyes as she pulled out her own book and began to read, ignoring Draco's comment and Severus' questioning gaze. It wasn't long before Blaise joined them, though he had appeared a bit hesitant to sit down when he realized Severus was in the compartment with the pair. After assurances that it was okay Blaise sat next to Severus and got comfortable as he settled in to enjoy the ride to Hogwarts.

"Are you two excited to go to Hogsmead?" Blaise asked.

"I'm going to be glad to not have to send out as many owl orders this year, too bad we can't go every weekend," Emily remarked looking up from her book.

"At least we get to go. What with Black free I wasn't sure they would allow us out of the castle…" Emily and Draco shared a look before Emily turned back to her book. "Am I missing something?"

"There are always a few teacher chaperones in Hogsmead," Draco pointed out ignoring the comment but reaching out to pat Blaise's knee. "I'm sure it's safe."

Just then they turned hearing a knock on the door. "Anything off the trolley dears?"

"Uncle Sev, do you want anything?" Draco asked as he opened the door to buy treats for the teens.

"Dark chocolate bar."

Draco purchased the candy and passed it out before returning to his seat. As the train continued to speed north, the sky outside the windows darkened causing the lights in the compartments to turn on. When the train began to suddenly slow Emily looked up from her book.

"Thank Merlin, I'm hungry!" Blaise exclaimed. Draco laughed but Emily looked to Severus who was casting a tempus obviously having the same thoughts running through his mind.

"We haven't been on the train long enough to be there yet," Emily said putting her book down on the seat next to her as she marked her place. "What's going on Sev?"

"I am unaware of any authorized stop before the Hogsmead station," Severus replied quickly putting his book away and pulling out his wand. The train continued to slow down as the wind howled against the window. Severus opened the door looking out only to bark at the students who were doing the same to get back into their compartments and lock the doors.

The train jolted as it came to a full stop. The lights began to flicker before they went out completely and bathed the train in darkness. Screams could be heard at the abrupt blackout. Emily felt uneasy, she gripped her wand tightly hoping there would not be a need for it.

"Am I allowed to create a light?" Emily asked quietly.

"Yes." With Severus' reply the witch pointed her wand towards the ceiling sending small balls of light to dance around it, giving the cabin a dim glow.

Everything was silent for a few minutes before the lock clicked and the door began to slide open. A cloaked figure appeared in the doorway, Emily shivered as a chill swept through the compartment. A boney gray hand reached forward and the figure made a rattling sound that Emily guessed was somehow allowing the creature to inhale something more than air.

The cold went to Emily's very heart and her vision began to blur. She heard a woman begging for mercy for her child. The voice faded replaced by screams mixed with a high cold laugh. She was blinded by a green light before her vision turned into a white fog and she could hear a deep silky voice call her name.

"Emily, focus on my voice. I need you to open your eyes for me," the voice said. Opening her eyes as she was instructed, the witch found herself looking into the worried face of Severus and being held by Draco. Her eyes flicked to Blaise, who was sitting in the corner, his gaze traveling from her to the once again closed door and back.

"Emily," Severus said drawing her attention back to him. "I need you to eat this chocolate." Taking Emily into his arms as she still felt a bit dazed Severus swapped places with Draco so he could help her, worried at her continued silence.

Emily was no fool she knew what she had heard, more specifically who she had heard and it seemed slightly more terrifying than the dreams she had, had of the event. She was drawn from her dwelling as her hand holding the piece of chocolate was directed towards her mouth. Taking a bite warmth began to flow through her causing the ice and depression to seemingly seep out from her.

"Was that a…" Blaise trailed off staring at the door.

Severus nodded as he handed Emily another piece of chocolate, "A Dementor."

Emily had read about Dementors and the thought of that creature returning sent a shiver down her spine. They were vile creatures that guarded Azkaban prison, draining the prisoners of their joy and leaving them with only their worst memories.

"What were they doing on the train!" Draco exclaimed his worry for Emily clear in his expression.

"Most likely searching for Black but I will be giving Albus Dumbledore an earful about allowing those things on a train filled with children," Severus spoke, his voice cold. Emily would not want to be the Headmaster when Severus got his hands on him. "Just relax we should be to the station in five minutes. Emily I'm going to apparate up to the gates so I can get to the school quickly, do you want to come with me?"

"I'll be fine with Draco," Emily said softly. Severus took a moment to look over her before nodding his head. He motioned for Draco to take his original place back. When the train once again came to a complete stop Severus disappeared from the compartment with a soft pop.

Emily took Draco's offered arm as they stepped onto the platform and made their way to the carriages. The ride up to the school was silent. Draco helped Emily out of the carriage when they reached the school, refusing to allow her to relinquish her arm from his as they made their way over to the Slytherin table to take their seats for the feast. On their way they passed Theo who mimed fainting as he taunted Harry about something, Emily could only shake her head at the boys' unending rivalry.

Once seated Emily took a moment to scan the Great Hall, Severus was in his usual place scowling down the table to where a person Emily recognized from her dreams was sitting. Emily knew that he must be Remus Lupin their new Defense professor. He appeared tired but happy as he looked upon the students settling into the Great Hall.

Her eyes then locked with a certain Hufflepuff's who smiled and gave a small wave which she returned. The hall fell quiet as the first years were escorted to the front to be sorted into their Houses. It was when the first years were seated that Emily noticed her brother and Granger slipping into the Great Hall following McGonagall, quickly making their way to the Gryffindor table.

Dinner was promptly served and Draco kept glancing at Emily to make sure she was eating. She rolled her eyes at his protective behavior but was truly glad she had him by her side.

As usual at the end of the feast Dumbledore rose to give his yearly do's and don'ts speech but this year's ending was a very new kind of warning. After he had introduced Lupin as the new Defense professor and Hagrid as the new Care of Magical Creatures professor he touched on the topic of Dementors.

"As many of you know Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban and as an extra precaution for your safety the Ministry has seen fit to station the Dementors of Azkaban around the grounds at every entrance. I caution you all to be diligent and not to leave the castle without permission. The Dementor is not a forgiving creature and cannot distinguish between those they are hunting and the ones who fall into their path. I look to our prefects and Head Boy and Girl to make sure our students are following the rules as to avoid anyone coming into contact with the Dementors. Now off to bed."

Emily watched as Severus whispered something to Dumbledore before sweeping from the hall with his cloak billowing behind him. She guaranteed Dumbledore was about to have an unpleasant conversation with the angered Potions Master.

When Emily and Draco made it to their dorms Emily bypassed setting up her room for the night and followed Draco to his. Slipping into one of Draco's shirts and a pair of his silk boxers Emily crawled into bed quickly falling asleep tucked into her best friend's side.


	36. Talons and the Tantalizing Hufflepuff

**36**

 **Talons and the Tantalizing Hufflepuff**

The next morning when Emily and Draco entered the Great Hall it was to find it mostly empty. Emily had a fitful sleep, her dream had involved her parents along with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Like the other dreams she had been having since her talk with Lucius and Severus, the two men went by the names Padfoot and Moony. They had just put her and Harry on the floor when her dream was interrupted by a flashing green light and a cold high pitched laugh. She had woken up only to fall back asleep having all her subsequent dreams end in the same manner.

"Someone really needs her coffee," Marcus Flint said taking in Emily's tired appearance as she sat down across from him.

"I may be tired but I can guarantee you the aim of my hex will still hit its target," Emily snapped.

Throwing his hands up in surrender Marcus slowly reached for the pot of coffee passing it to her, "Here take the whole pot."

Emily rolled her eyes sending a stinging hex at Marcus as she poured her coffee.

"Oi, what was that for?" Marcus said shooting a glare at Draco, who was trying and failing to contain his laughter.

"Your cheek."

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine this morning," Marcus replied taking a bite of his toast.

Emily shrugged, "I try."

Draco could no longer keep his amusement quiet and burst out laughing. Emily smirked at her best friend as he attempted to calm himself.

"You spend way too much time with Uncle Sev," Draco remarked as he collected himself.

"Is that so Mr. Malfoy?"

It was Emily's turn to hide her amusement as Draco froze, the blonde turned around to see his Head of House standing behind him.

"I think it's safer not to comment," Draco replied.

Severus inclined his head slightly indicating he thought that was a wise choice though Emily noticed a hint of amusement in his eyes before it quickly vanished. "Very well, I have your schedules. You both know what is expected of you," Severus said as he handed them each a piece of parchment with their timetables on them before continuing down the table.

Just then the rest of the third year Slytherins came in surrounding Theo who kept glancing at the Gryffindor table and pretending to faint. When Pansy started calling out to Emily's brother about Dementors coming Emily nudged Draco to leave with her. Standing she secured the lid on her mug of coffee and began walking towards the doors of the Great Hall.

"Let's go grab our books and head off to Arithmancy," Emily said. "I don't have the patience to listen to Theo this morning."

"Hufflepuff approaching, should I leave you two alone?" Draco teased as he angled his head in the direction of Cedric who was indeed moving towards them. Emily rolled her eyes at her best friend before turning to smile at the handsome brunette as he stopped in front of her drawing her into a hug.

"Hey Em, already done with breakfast?" Cedric asked leaving one of his arms around her as she pulled out of the hug.

"Yeah, we are just heading to grab our books."

"What's your first class?"

"Arithmancy."

"Ouch, I'm not good with numbers this early in the morning."

"It shouldn't be too bad," Emily shrugged.

"Says the girl who studies for fun," Cedric teased.

"Says the girl who has caffeine," Emily replied holding up her coffee mug.

"Well that's always helpful. So… I was wondering, if you are free this afternoon, that maybe we could go flying together…"

"Flying sounds fun. I'd like that a lot," Emily replied turning to look at Draco briefly. "We should probably head back down though and pick up our books for our morning lessons, but I will meet you on the pitch after classes are done."

"Sounds good," Cedric said squeezing her side with his arm. "I will see you later, have a fun day back."

As Cedric made his way to the Hufflepuff table, Emily took Draco's arm and began dragging him towards the dungeons. The handsome sixth year had her very confused. Was Draco right, did Cedric want to be more than friends? Maybe she was making too big a deal out of his actions... He was just being friendly and wanted someone to go flying with, there was no need to read further into it.

Draco on the other hand kept shooting her knowing looks which she pretended not to notice as they gathered their books and headed off to their morning lessons.

Arithmancy had been easier than Emily expected. She had been studying basic Arithmancy since her first year but it had always been less interesting to her than Runes. The magic of divination through numbers while more appealing than taking Divination since she herself was not a seer just didn't hold the same appeal as Ancient Runes in her future goals.

So already understanding the principles, Emily spent most of the period working on her essay that would be due next week. The assignment was on 'Your Name and Numerology'. The assignment itself was easy. The corresponding numbers to her name 'Emily' added up to 28 which was then broken down to 10 and then 1. One was the Primal Force number and highlighted her attributes as being a leader, independent, strong willed, driven and ambitious. It was not hard for Emily to see how these attributes fit into her personality and write her paper on the topic.

Arithmancy had been followed by a 'Welcome to Herbology 3' lecture and finally lunch.

At lunch Emily found that her brother was the main source of discussion. Apparently his first elective Divination had everyone gossiping.

"… Then Trelawny announced that she could see the Grim in his tea leaves," Daphne Greengrass gushed. "You should have seen Potter's face!"

"Honestly that woman couldn't tell you what day it is, let alone predict someone's future," Blaise scoffed. "You could smell the wine on her and it was the first class of the day."

"The Gryffindors sure looked like they believed her," Daphne laughed as she reached for her pumpkin juice.

"She declares she sees death omens around one student every year," Marcus spoke up. "Most people who have no idea what a huge fraud she is, believe her for the first few weeks until nothing happens. Penelope Clearwater was the victim my year, she is still alive and well sitting at the Ravenclaw table."

"Please tell me you didn't take Divination," Emily said looking over at the burly Quidditch captain.

"I did, but I dropped it after my OWLs. You couldn't pay me to keep taking that class."

"I just can't see the appeal in taking the course unless you are a true seer," Emily stated as she stole one of Draco's chips from his plate.

"It's for the easy grade," Marcus informed her. "All you have to do is make up fake predictions, which is way less time consuming than taking Ancient Runes or Arithmancy."

Emily shook her head as finished her orange juice before getting up from the table with Draco to drop off their morning books and pick up the only book they would need for the afternoon.

"Just one class left today, then you get to go flying with Cedric," Draco teased as the two third years walked down the lawn towards Hagrid's hut.

"Oh shut up," Emily said shooting a glare at her best friend. "We are friends, it means nothing."

"Sure…"

As they approached the hut Emily noticed that Hagrid was waiting for everyone looking rather excited. Emily on the other hand was hesitant, she knew that the kind of creatures Hagrid found harmless, others found deadly. She just hoped he had been given a list of approved creatures, she had enough of life threatening ones last year.

"C'mon, I have a great lesson for yeh today!" Hagrid called as the last few students made their way towards the hut. Emily noticed one of the stranglers was her brother and his friends.

"Is that everyone? Good, follow me!" Hagrid led them along the edge of the forest towards a paddock. The paddock was empty leaving Emily's mind to wonder at what Hagrid would be showing the class. "Everyone stand 'round the fence but don't enter," Hagrid instructed them. "Can you all see? Right, now yeh need ter open yer books…"

"And how do we do that?" Theo drawled looking disbelievingly at Hagrid.

When Hagrid looked at him confused Draco spoke up, "He means how are we supposed to open the book." People began taking out their copies of the text, which all seemed to be restrained in various ways, the most popular methods being ropes and belts. Some people seemed to have crammed the book into tight bags and a few muggleborns attempted to use binder clips to keep it shut.

"Yeh don' know how ter open yer books?" Hagrid asked looking around disappointed. As many students shook their heads in the negative, Hagrid demonstrated stroking the spine of the book along the soft spikes. "Yeh just got ter stroke the spines and they fall open."

"And exactly how were we supposed to know that?" Theo asked sounding annoyed as his book fell open from his strokes.

"It seemed fun to me…" Hagrid said looking uncertainly at the students as they busied themselves removing the restraints from their books and opening them.

"Yes it's a joy to have a book that could easily chew off our hands," Theo drawled looking less than amused.

Hagrid looked saddened that the students didn't appear to like the books. Emily noticed that Harry and his friends were glaring at Theo for his comments to Hagrid but Emily couldn't help but agree with her housemate. The books were not fun and they had no place around students, they had to be kept in a cage like an animal at the book store for Merlin's sake!

"Well since yeh got yer books sorted… um, yeh'll need the Magical Creature. So… yeah I'll get 'em just… uh, stay by the fence here," Hagrid said nervously motioning to the wooden fencing in front of them before walking into the forest.

"My father will be hearing about this," Theo scoffed. "We don't stand a chance of learning anything worthwhile with that oaf teaching classes."

"Would you shut up Nott," Harry snapped.

"I'd be careful Potter… look out! D…d…dementor!" Theo pretended to shake before breaking out into laughter when Harry and his friends turned to look behind themselves.

"Em look," Draco said nudging her and drawing her attention away from her brother and Theo. As Emily looked to where Draco was indicating the witch watched as a dozen amazing creatures made their way towards the paddock. The front half of the being was fashioned after an impossibly large eagle while the back seemed to be more of a horse. Each creature wore a leather collar around its neck which was attached to a chain that Hagrid held the other end of as he led them into the paddock.

Students seemed to subconsciously back away from the fence slowly. Emily reached out forcing Draco to stay in his place knowing that for the time being Hagrid had control of the creatures and they were in no danger.

"These beau'iful creatures are Hippogriffs!" Hagrid exclaimed looking much happier than he had when he went off to collect the creatures a few minutes before. "C'mon, come closer," Hagrid called out. Emily noticed that Harry and his friends were slowly approaching the fence while the rest of the class remained where they were. Realizing that the majority of the class had no intention of coming closer Hagrid began to inform the class about the creatures.

"Firs' thing yeh should know is that Hippogriffs are proud creatures," Hagrid started. "Yeh don' want ter insult a Hippogriff, they are easily offended an' may attack yeh if yeh do."

Theo seemed to be whispering to Crabbe and Goyle instead of paying attention to what Hagrid was saying. Emily didn't like the feeling she was starting to get, hopefully they weren't planning on doing something that would endanger the other students.

"Yeh wan' ter be polite when approachin' a Hippogriff," Hagrid continued. "Firs' yeh have ter bow an' wait ter see if he bows back. If he does, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow back, move away fast, them talons are sharp and yeh don' wan' ter get hurt by them. Okay, who's first?"

The class seemed to collectively take a step further away from the fence to put even more distance between them and the Hippogriffs. Emily wavered slightly, apprehensive after her various run ins with creatures Hagrid deemed 'safe'. Hagrid looked pleadingly towards the students and Emily watched as her brother took a step forward.

"I'll do it Hagrid," he said.

Instantly Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil began calling out to Harry, "Don't do it! Remember your tea leaves? You had the Grim!"

Emily rolled her eyes, if there was anything that should make her brother hesitate it had nothing to do with what a crazy woman saw in a tea cup. Her brother seemed to feel the same way as he ignored the girls' warning and climbed over the fence into the paddock.

"Great Harry!" Hagrid beamed. "Let's use Buckbeak an' see how yeh do." Hagrid released one of the chains as he led the grey Hippogriff towards the center of the paddock. He removed the collar and everyone seemed to be unable to breathe waiting for something to go wrong. "Once yeh have eye contact try not ter blink, they don' like it if you blink much…" Hagrid instructed Harry. "Tha's it just keep eye contact… now bow slowly…" Harry did as he was told and bowed. After a few seconds he lifted his head to look at the Hippogriff which continued to stare at him arrogantly. "Uh… slowly back up," Hagrid instructed his voice holding a tone of worry. Emily was shocked when as Harry continued to take slow steps backwards the Hippogriff bent its front knees and bowed back in return. A huge smile broke across Hagrid's face. "Well done Harry! Yeh can come closer now and pat his beak! C'mon it's okay!" Emily held her breath as her brother moved forward and began to rub circles on the Hippogriffs beak. Emily relaxed as Buckbeak seemed to enjoy it and lazily closed his eyes at Harry's ministrations. The class applauded Harry's efforts as Hagrid moved towards Harry. "I think he'll let yeh ride him now!" Hagrid exclaimed.

Emily watched as Hagrid hoisted Harry onto the Hippogriff's back and started giving him instructions. Harry looked terrified as he tried to memorize what Hagrid was telling him. All of a sudden Hagrid slapped the Hippogriff on the backside automatically it spread out its twelve foot wings and began to flap them as it took off into the air. Buckbeak flew Harry in a small circle around the paddock before landing and moving back towards Hagrid. Emily had to hold in her laughter at her brother's expression, he looked a mix of excited and petrified all at once as he held tightly to the Hippogriff.

Hagrid swiftly helped Harry down and turned to the rest of the class. "Okay who's next?"

The entire class seemingly satisfied that the Hippogriffs weren't going to attack them began to climb over the fence and enter the paddock. Emily, Draco, Theo and Blaise were surrounding Buckbeak as Harry had joined his friends by a chestnut colored Hippogriff. Buckbeak bowed to Draco who was currently patting his beak. Emily noticed Theo looked annoyed and kept shooting a look at Harry before looking back towards the Hippogriff.

"It has to be easy if Potter can do it," Theo drawled loudly. "You aren't dangerous at all, you're just a great ugly brute."

He quickly started advancing on Buckbeak who Draco was still patting. The Hippogriff not liking the quick advances of Theo reared up and slashed his talons down. Hagrid ran forward to restrain Buckbeak as Emily knelt down next to Draco who was lying on the ground bleeding having been the victim of Theo's actions.

"Look what it's done!" Theo said pointing to Draco. "He's dying!"

"Hagrid I have to take him to Madam Pomfrey," Emily said ignoring everyone as she transfigured a large stone into a stretcher and levitated Draco onto it before directing it to float in front of her as she headed off towards the castle. Emily was working hard to stay calm. The gash on Draco arm ran from his shoulder to his elbow and the blood that was quickly staining his clothes made her worried for her best friend. Emily could hear people yelling behind her as she entered the castle but she blocked them out as she focused on safely levitating Draco.

When Emily entered the Hospital Wing Madam Pomfrey motioned her to put him on one of the beds. Emily stood back giving Madam Pomfrey the room to work as she stopped Draco's bleeding and ran diagnostics to check for other injuries. Finally she turned to Emily as she handed Draco a potion Emily recognized as a pain reliever.

"What's wrong with him?" Emily asked as she moved to sit on the edge of Draco's bed to hold her best friend's hand.

"His arm is broken just below the shoulder. I have healed the laceration on his arm and stopped the bleeding. He will need a blood replenisher and I can fix the break but due to the location of it he will be sore for a few days while everything heals," she informed them. "Now exactly how did you come by these injuries Mr. Malfoy?"

"We were in Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid was showing us Hippogriffs…"

"He what?" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed cutting Draco off. "What was he thinking, isn't it enough we have those vile creatures searching for Black, we don't need more dangerous beings introduced to the students."

A few hours later Emily was reading a book while she sat by the bed Draco was sleeping in. Severus had come as soon as he was informed and gave Emily permission to spend the evening with Draco knowing she would invade his private quarters if he didn't. Madam Pomfrey had sent off a report to Lucius. They hadn't heard from him yet but Emily had little doubt there would be a long letter and an early care package from Narcissa coming in the morning. As for Draco, he had been adamant that he was well enough to leave, that is until Blaise had visited and offered to help Draco around while he recovered.

Emily looked up as the door to the Hospital Wing opened and Cedric entered. He smiled at her as he made his way towards where she was sitting.

"I heard what happened and figured that since flying was probably off, you could use some company up here," he said pulling up one of the other chairs in the wing to sit by her.

"I would love some. As you can see the potions finally made Draco fall asleep so I'm just reading," Emily replied setting down her book.

"Well it looks like you had an exciting first day back. Word around the school is that Draco was mauled and is dying up here. But seeing as his body seems to be intact, you do not look as if you've been crying and as his parents are not here I can only guess that he is not in fact dying."

Emily laughed, "No he's not dying, thank Merlin. He just had a huge gash that went down his arm. The scarring should disappear within the week though and he has already had a blood replenisher. The worst was a bad break just below his shoulder which will leave him wearing a sling for a few days so that it stays healed."

"I'm sure he's thrilled about that."

"I doubt it will bother him too much if a certain Italian wizard keeps doting on him."

Cedric laughed as he looked over at the blonde sleeping in the bed, "I didn't realize he liked Zabini. Well can't begrudge him milking it then, I'd do the same if it was you."

Emily turned her head to look at the Hufflepuff shocked at his admission, "You would?"

"Of course I would. Anything to keep you close to me," he replied standing up and putting his chair back. "Now I have to get to dinner and start on my DADA essay. I will see you tomorrow." With that Cedric leaned down softly pressing his lips to Emily's before standing up and exiting the wing leaving a shocked Emily behind.

"I told you," came the amused voice of Draco from his bed.

"You're awake," Emily stated as she tried to process what had just happened.

"Yes and I was right," Draco said as he pushed himself to sit up with his uninjured arm. "Sure didn't take him long to make a move and by that smile on your face you are pretty happy about this turn…"

Draco was cut off as Emily hit his head with a pillow she had grabbed from the empty bed behind her. "Shut up."


	37. Boggart in the Wardrobe

**37**

 **The Boggart in the Wardrobe**

The next few days passed relatively quickly for Emily. She spent most of her time outside of classes in the hospital wing with Draco. Most of his injuries were easily healed but his arm seemed to be quite sore despite the fact that the bone was no longer broken. Emily had yet to get the chance to talk with Cedric after he had kissed her and she wondered if he was regretting the action.

It was Thursday morning and Emily was waiting by Draco's bed as Madam Pomfrey finished wrapping his sore arm. That morning Madam Pomfrey had declared Draco was allowed to go back to attending classes as long as he agreed to wear a sling on his arm. Emily's patience was starting to thin as she continued to wait for the witch to finish. They were going to be very late to their double potions class at this point.

"All done dear," Madam Pomfrey said standing up as she smoothed out her robes. "You may go but remember to take your pain reliever for the next week and that arm stays in the sling until I have personally told you it may come off! Understood?"

Draco nodded eagerly, willing to agree to anything that got him out of the hospital wing.

"Good now off with both of you," the matron replied bustling back to her office.

Emily and Draco hurried through the halls to the dungeons only pausing briefly to catch their breaths and compose themselves before entering the classroom. Unsurprisingly their table in the front of the classroom was unoccupied. They swiftly took their seats and began pulling out the ingredients needed for the Shrinking Solution they would be preparing today.

"Draco," Blaise called out from behind them. "How is your arm? Do you need any help?"

Emily watched as Draco controlled his blush using his occlumency techniques before turning to answer the Italian wizard. "It's doing better but it is quite painful still," Draco replied with a slight grimace.

Emily had to suppress an eye roll. She had a feeling Draco was really going to ham it up as long as Blaise continued to be extra attentive to his needs. Perhaps if it drove her too crazy she could always come up with a way help the two along. But right now it was too early to start scheming, she would give them some time to figure everything out on their own first.

"Your focus should be on your potions," Severus reminded the students.

The class slowly turned their attention away from the distraction of Emily and Draco's late entrance to focus on their own cauldrons. Emily had begun preparing her ingredients and making notes in her book as Draco once again called attention to himself.

"Professor," Draco said raising his hand, "I can't cut my ingredients myself and need help chopping the daisy root."

Emily raised an eyebrow at her friend. She would be happy to help Draco prepare his ingredients and he knew that as well, so why was he asking Severus?

"Weasley," Severus called out making the red head that had been talking to Harry and not paying attention jump. "Weasley, please chop Mr. Malfoy's roots for him."

Weasley glared at Draco making his way over to their table complaining that there was nothing wrong with Draco's arm and that he just liked the attention. Draco for his part looked disappointed that Severus had chosen the Gryffindor to help him.

Weasley who refused to stop grumbling seized Draco's knife and began haphazardly chopping the root into many unequal sized pieces before dropping the knife on the table to turn and head back to his cauldron.

"Professor, he maimed my roots!" Draco called out to Severus. "I can't possibly use these."

Severus slowly made his way over to the table narrowing his eyes at the mess of randomly chopped roots. He turned slowly, crossing his arms as he walked towards Weasley and looked at the roots at his station. "I highly suggest that you trade roots with Mr. Malfoy," Severus said in a dangerously calm voice.

Weasley opened his mouth, no doubt to voice his anger and outrage at having to give up his carefully chopped roots to Draco, but stopped short at the look Severus was giving him. The red head slowly brought his roots over to Draco as he angrily grabbed the mutilated ones and returned to his cauldron to attempt to fix what he had done.

In an attempt to make class continue smoothly Emily reached across Draco to grab his shrivelfig and began to skin it. Once she was finished she diced double the needed caterpillars measuring out half to Draco before moving on to finish her Shrinking Solution.

Emily surveyed the classroom as she allowed her potion to simmer. Theo seemed to be in a heated whispering match with Harry and Weasley. His smug grin when the two Gryffindors glared at Draco's arm made her curious but there was nothing she could do for the moment. Not far from them it appeared Longbottom was having trouble with his potion once again.

"This is orange, Longbottom," Severus stated blandly as he ladled a small portion before slowly letting it drain back into the cauldron. "Explain to me, after I was very clear about the solution only calling for one rat spleen and just a dash of leech juice, you still end up with an orange potion? How can I make you listen and implement the instructions correctly?"

All Longbottom could do was tremble in reply as he stared at the floor. Granger tried to come to his rescue but was quickly told to sit back down.

"Maybe if we feed this to your toad at the end of the lesson you might be motivated to create a potion correctly. So you have until the last few minutes of class to fix what you have created before I feed a few drops to your pet and see the outcome." Severus went back to the front of class and Emily turned her attention to Draco who was just now allowing his solution to simmer.

"Want to tell me why you didn't just ask for my help from the beginning?" Emily whispered as Draco rubbed his injured arm. Instead of answering Draco's eyes traveled in the direction of a certain Italian born wizard.

Emily chuckled, "You could have just asked him directly."

"Can we talk about something else? How about Diggory, have you kissed him again lately?"

Emily rolled her eyes at her best friend, "You know I haven't. I haven't even seen him. I've been with you in the hospital wing for the past few days. He probably regrets kissing a third year by now anyway."

"I doubt that. My father was a seventh year when my mother was in her third. If he had reservations it wouldn't be over your age gap."

"I thought their marriage was more or less arranged?"

"Not exactly, they were encouraged to be together very strongly by their families. In the end what mattered though was that they loved each other, and they do."

"Well I know they love each other, it's clear to see. I guess I didn't realize they started dating while Luc was at Hogwarts."

"Age means very little in our world when it comes to marriage and dating. Especially to purebloods, which may I remind you, Diggory is."

"I guess…" Emily hesitantly replied.

"Well you will know for sure by dinner tonight because you won't be stuck eating with me in the Hospital Wing," Draco said nudging Emily. Seeing Emily looked a bit nervous at the thought Draco decided to change the subject, "Come on lets clean up our stations."

After a quick glance at the clock Emily realized class was almost over and joined Draco in ladling her Shrinking Solution into vials to turn in before cleaning out her cauldron.

"Would everyone please bring forward their samples of their solutions for grading and then gather around Longbottom's desk?" Severus called out to the class.

Emily watched as the Gryffindors slowly made their way towards Longbottom's table. Many looked fearful knowing with Longbottom's lack of skill in potions that his toad was likely to be poisoned. The gathered Slytherins on the other hand did not look too care much for what the outcome would be other than Theo who seemed almost gleeful at the thought that Longbottom may no longer have a toad in a few minutes time. Once everyone was watching, Severus ladled a few drops into the toad's throat. Within a few seconds a pop sounded and sitting in the palm of Severus's hand was a tadpole. The Gryffindors cheered while the Slytherins looked expectantly at Severus hoping to be dismissed.

"Miss Granger, I believe I told you to allow Mr. Longbottom to correct his own mistakes," Severus said. The Gryffindors quickly lost their gleeful looks. "Five points from Gryffindor and next time you help him when I tell you not to, it will be twenty. Dismissed."

Emily and Draco slowly made their way out of the Dungeons towards the Great Hall, side stepping an exhausted looking Granger who came barreling back down the stairs on their way up.

"We've barely started the year and Granger looks like she is worn out already," Draco commented as they continued toward the Great Hall.

Emily shrugged, "It's a hard year, everyone had to add more classes to their schedule while none got taken away. Maybe she is just stressed from trying to organize it all."

"True…" Draco bumped Emily and whispered, "Incoming Hufflepuff."

Emily looked up as they entered the Great Hall and noticed Cedric smiling as he walked towards her. He leaned down kissing her cheek as he embraced her. Emily felt her nerves go away as she wrapped her arms around the handsome sixth year.

"Hey, I have to run to my next class but I was hoping we could go flying after dinner," Cedric said as he pulled away.

"Yeah sure, I'd enjoy that," Emily answered smiling up at him.

"Good, I'll see you tonight," he leaned down to kiss her head and ran to catch up with his friends who were waiting for him to head to class.

"So I guess he didn't regret it after all," Draco teased.

Emily rolled her eyes and playfully shoved her best friend as they headed over to the Slytherin table for lunch.

Emily groaned as she and Draco made their way to the front of the DADA classroom. Professor Lupin was not there yet so the Gryffindors and Slytherins were using the time to taunt each other. Emily wondered whose bright idea it had been to place the two Houses with the greatest rivalry together for an entire day of potions and defense.

The taunting came to an abrupt end as the door to the classroom opened and Professor Lupin walked in. He smiled tentatively at the class as he placed his briefcase on his desk and stood before them.

"Welcome," he annouced. "If you have gotten any of your supplies out please put them away now. We will be starting our year off with a practical lesson I believe you will all enjoy."

Emily looked at Draco and raised an eyebrow, maybe this year was going to be different than the last two. They had yet to have a defense professor teach a practical lesson. Unless you counted the pixie fiasco, which Emily certainly didn't, seeing as the professor at the time, Gilderoy Lockhart, spent the entire period under his desk before running from the room.

"Wonderful," he said when he noticed everyone had finished putting their things away. "If you would all go to the door and follow me, we will be working in another room today."

As the third years quietly made their way through the deserted halls they came across Peeves who was happily stuffing gum into the keyhole of Filch's favorite broom cupboard. When Peeves noticed Professor Lupin he began to do a little jig midair while singing, "Loony, moony, you're back for some fun! Oh loony, moony Filch better run!"

Emily was surprised to see the poltergeist react in such a manner towards a teacher. Usually he would bow before leaving the area when he came across a teacher but he instead seemed to view Professor Lupin as an accomplice of sorts. Instead of getting upset Professor Lupin shook his head at Peeves, Emily noticed he was smirking as he pulled out his wand, pointing it at the resident poltergeist prankster.

"Waddiwasi," he stated calmly before turning and motioning for the students to continue to follow him, though no one noticed as they all watched the gum Peeves had been sticking in the keyhole shoot towards him and up his nostril.

"Wicked," Dean Thomas said in amazement while many students nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thank you but shall we continue on," Professor Lupin asked as he motioned for a second time for them to follow.

"This is war, silly loony, moony!" Peeves called down the hall after them. Professor Lupin chuckled at Peeves' remark as they approached the staffroom. Opening the door he motioned for the class to go inside. The staffroom was devoid of most furniture other than a few chairs by the fireplace and an old wardrobe that seemed to shake slightly every few seconds. In one of the chairs by the fire sat Severus who sneered in Professor Lupin's direction as he rose and strode towards the door.

"No need to close the door, I do not intend to watch this disaster." Emily felt Severus place a small slip of parchment in her hand as he swept passed her. At the door Severus turned to look at Professor Lupin one last time, "You should be warned that Miss Granger takes great pleasure in whispering instructions to her friends, especially Longbottom, who tends to botch the most simple of things."

As the door shut behind Severus, Emily noticed Granger looked partially outraged at the comment but couldn't keep the pink of her blush from the truth of the statement from her cheeks. Emily knew well that Severus was upset that Granger had told Longbottom how to fix his potion because it meant Longbottom wasn't learning, instead he was relying on others to fix his mistakes.

"Well, Neville, I believe you will be the first to help me with today's lesson and I have no doubt that you will do just fine," Professor Lupin said turning to look at Longbottom. Longbottom's face turned bright red as he attempted to take a step back and hide himself partially behind Dean Thomas.

"Now I would like you to all turn your attention towards the wardrobe," Professor Lupin said as he stood to the left of said piece of furniture. It was then that most of the students realized that something seemed to be causing the wardrobe to tremble against the wall. It was accompanied by random banging sounds as if something was trying to escape the confines of the wardrobe.

"No need for alarm, it's just a boggart in there," Professor Lupin instructed. Longbottom looked from Professor Lupin to the rattling wardrobe and took another step to put him completely behind Thomas. "Boggarts feel at home in dark enclosed spaces, this one took residence in the wardrobe yesterday and I thought it would be great for all of you to practice on. With that said can anyone tell me what a boggart is?" Emily raised her hand and a smiling Professor Lupin called on her.

"A boggart is a type of shape-shifter, which takes the shape of whatever a person facing it fears most. Their affinity for dark spaces has been the cause for many of what muggles deem "haunted" objects. While their personal magic is somewhat strong they can never fully emulate the magic of the being they take the shape of. For example if taking the shape of a banshee its cry will not kill you."

"Very good!" Professor Lupin exclaimed. "With that knowledge we know that the boggart in this wardrobe has yet to take shape. The natural form of a boggart is unknown to us. When I release it from its confines it will immediately take the shape of our fears, but that gives us an advantage over it. Can you tell us why, Harry?"

"Because… there are too many people in here, it will be confused about what shape to take," Harry replied hesitantly.

"Exactly," Professor Lupin said turning to the rest of the class. "The more people you have when facing a boggart the better. It has to try and decide what form to take, sometimes even attempting to take multiple forms at once. Suppose that you are afraid of a flesh eating slug and the person next to you fears a corpse, you may just end up with a partial slug that has legs. Which, if you ask me is more comical than frightening."

"Amusement is exactly the emotion you need when dealing with a boggart. You must force it to take the shape of something that causes you to laugh. It is the laughter that ends a boggart. Now I want everyone to repeat after me, without wands please… Riddikulus!"

Once the class had repeated the incantation a few times Professor Lupin motioned Longbottom forward to stand next to him in the center of the room. Emily noticed Longbottom was trembling as he hesitantly moved toward Professor Lupin. Briefly Emily wondered if you could confuse a boggart by being fearful of many things at once. It seemed as if poor Longbottom had a strong fear of many things and she felt slightly sorry for the Gryffindor.

"Now Neville, can you tell the class what you fear most in life. It can be a person or a creature, even an object but it must be your one, greatest fear," Professor Lupin instructed patting the boy on the shoulder. Longbottom seemed to mumble something that only Professor Lupin heard. He nodded in understanding and then began whispering with the nervous boy. Straightening up to address the class Professor Lupin stated, "If Neville can accomplish his task the boggart will turn to one of you. I want you all to begin preparing now. Think of your greatest fear and then how you could alter it to a more amusing state."

Everyone was silent as they began to imagine their fears. Emily was having a hard time answering that question though. What did she fear above all else? Her mind went to Voldemort, the name inspired a conflict of emotions for her but fear was not one of the more prominent ones. Her mind warred with what image to give the name even, the handsome boy she had seen in the chamber or the snakelike face that shared Quirrell's body.

What did she fear? Would fear make her weak? And if it did, did she really want to identify it and possibly show it to the people around her... As she looked around the room she noticed most people seemed ready and excited to face the boggart, why could she not place her greatest fear as easily as them?

"Is everyone prepared?" Professor Lupin asked.

Emily grabbed Draco's hand, she wasn't ready and she was not going to ask for more time to think upon her fears when she seemed to be the only person unprepared. Her eyes briefly landed on Harry who had taken a small step back, his head was slightly down looking at the floor… perhaps she was not the only one who was not ready after all.

Professor Lupin instructed the class to move as far from the wardrobe as they could and for Longbottom to stay put in the middle of the room. Emily leaned into Draco to rest her head on his shoulder as they watched Longbottom shakily push up his sleeves. Draco seemed to notice Emily felt unsettled and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

Professor Lupin counted to three before pointing his wand at the doorknob of the wardrobe. Slowly the door swung open and Emily could not stop the soft laughter that escaped when an annoyed looking Severus emerged.

Longbottom started to back away. His mouth kept opening but no words were coming out. After a few tries Longbottom managed to speak the incantation. A sharp crack echoed in the room. Severus appeared to stumble, as he righted himself it was clear he was now wearing a lace dress and carrying a large handbag. All Emily could think of as the room erupted in laughter was how angry Severus was going to be when he found out about this.

"Parvati, you next!" Professor Lupin called as the boggart paused for a moment trying to find another fear to prey upon. The Gryffindor strode forward to take Longbottom's place and Severus began to blur before turning into a mummy with various bloodstains on it. She was much calmer than Longbottom as she raised her wand and clearly called out, "Riddikulus". The mummy began to stumble before tripping over a loose end of its wrappings. It flailed wildly as it fell to the ground causing the laughter in the room to begin again.

"Daphne!" called Professor Lupin. The Slytherin stepped forward and with another snap the boggart shifted forms. Before them was a large snake that lifted its head ready to attack. Daphne quickly said the incantation and the snake turned into a giant jack-in-the-box. Suddenly several cracks were heard as the boggart kept changing shape, confused by the laughter in the room and the number of people in it. Dean Thomas went next followed by Blaise. The boggart was moving about the room trying to find a fear to focus on as the laughter grew louder.

It stopped before Harry and Emily watched as Professor Lupin moved in between them. The boggart shifted to become a silver-white orb. Professor Lupin pointed his wand at the object and with another crack the boggart flew to the center of the room. Longbottom was called forward to finish it off. This time when Severus appeared in a dress the laughter was so loud the boggart exploded into puffs of smoke and vanished entirely.

"Well done!" exclaimed Professor Lupin. "I am awarding five points to everyone who faced the boggart today and then another five for Emily and Harry who answered my questions at the beginning of class. For homework I would like you all to read and summarize the chapter on boggarts in your text and have it ready to turn in next class. You are dismissed for today, thank you."

Emily and Draco navigated through the excitedly talking students to get out of the room. Never had students seemed so enthusiastic over a DADA class since they had begun at Hogwarts. Emily herself enjoyed the lesson very much, though she was extremely glad she had not been one of the people called on to participate.

"That was the first time I wasn't bored in a DADA class," Draco said escorting his friend down one of the many staircases.

"Yeah, it was points in Professor Lupin's favor when he didn't find something to hide under after he released the boggart from the wardrobe," Emily joked.

"I only wish I had gotten a turn to face it," remarked Draco glancing over at the witch. Emily just shrugged. She was happy not to be chosen and she really did not want to think about the why. Sensing Emily's shifting mood Draco nudged her and picked up his pace towards the common room. "Come on we need to get some work done before dinner because someone has a flying date with a certain Hufflepuff seeker."

As Draco rushed off Emily took a moment to read the note Severus had given her at the start of class and smiled. The parchment read:

 _Fears are a difficult subject. My door is always open._

 _S.S._


	38. Official in Hogsmead

**38**

 **Official in Hosgmeade**

It took no time at all for Defense Against the Dark Arts to become the most popular class in the castle. Professor Lupin appeared to actually understand the topic he was teaching and the students enjoyed his classes greatly.

The third years turned from learning about Boggarts to Red Caps, creatures who stand three to four feet in height with red eyes and sharp nails. They are often found on battlefields, relishing in the bloodshed they find there. The name Red Caps is derived from the fact that the creatures dye their hats red in the blood of their victims. From Red Caps the focus shifted to Kappas, water demons who feast on the blood of their victims unfortunate enough to wade into the waters where they dwell.

Not all classes were going as well as Defense though. Emily noticed Severus seemed to be in a sour mood recently. Most of the school attributed it to the fact that he found out about Longbottom's boggart and took offense, Emily who knew the man better than most knew whatever was troubling him was more than some silly boggart taking his form. If anything Emily thought Severus took a bit of pleasure in the idea that some of his students feared him enough for a boggart to take his form.

No, what was troubling Severus had to do with Professor Lupin's presence. The Potion Master's face darkened at the mere mention of the man, though Emily had no idea just why that was.

Care of Magical Creatures was a class Emily dreaded attending. After the Hippogriff incident Hagrid had lost all his enthusiasm for teaching giving each student a flobberworm, the task was to make sure it was still alive by the end of each lesson. An easy task considering the creatures were ten inches and toothless, preferring to stay put then to move around.

"This is ridiculous I could be working on my Transfiguration essay right now," Emily said shooting a glare at her best friend.

"I know, I don't know how many times you want me to apologize for making you take this class," Draco sighed pointedly avoiding his friend's look as he fed his flobberworm another piece of lettuce.

"Until the only flobberworms I have to deal with end up in my cauldron..."

As October began Emily found herself spending more time apart from Draco. The Quidditch season was fast approaching meaning that the blonde was often down on the pitch practicing with the Slytherin team. Emily barely noticed the shift as another boy had begun to take up more and more of her focus. Emily spent most of her evenings with Cedric Diggory, the handsome Hufflepuff seeker.

"There you are, you look as if you're freezing."

Emily looked down at herself and noticed she was shivering. Shrugging she looked over at Cedric as he climbed up to join her on the rock where she was sitting overlooking the Black Lake, "I guess I forgot a warming charm, it's just so beautiful out here tonight."

"It is," the boy nodded in agreement before pulling her into his side rubbing her arm with his large hand. "Here let me try to warm you up while you tell me about your day."

"Well not much happened to be honest. I'm starting to get sick of all the talk about divination though, besides the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend all anyone could talk about was some dead rabbit and how it proved Trelawney is a true seer. I don't know how that woman sees two feet in front of her let alone the future. She stumbles around the castle as far as I can tell and the class is utter rubbish according to Blaise."

Cedric shrugged, "It was the most useless class I've ever attended but it was also the easiest O I've ever gotten."

"You don't take Divination..."

"I did my third year, I dropped it and switched to Arithmancy when I started my fourth year."

"I didn't realize that was allowed."

"It is but its not commonly known that you can, since for muggleborns its basically impossible. My parents hired a tutor over the summer so I could catch up to my class, it was probably expensive but it saved me from having to continue with Divination for four more years."

"Not to mention I don't know if I could be seen with someone who willingly took Divination for five years."

"Well then I guess its a good thing I dropped it or you might not have answered yes to the question I wanted to ask you."

Emily looked up at Cedric quizzically, "And what is that?"

"Would you accompany me to Hogsmeade this weekend as my date?"

Emily was a tad shocked at the question she hadn't even thought about what she would do in Hogsmeade much less who she would go with.

Nodding her head she replied with a soft, "Yes."

A smile spreads across Cedric's face as he leaned down pressing his lips against Emily's. Emily began to panic knowing this was not going to be like any of the other kisses the two had shared, would she be good at snogging and if she wasn't would he still want to take her to Hogsmeade. Feeling Cedric's fingers tangle into her hair she allowed her head to tilt back as he deepened the kiss. The taste of his tongue on hers caused her to moan, she felt his other hand tighten on her hip pulling her closer to him. She started to lose her train of thought, her fears seemingly disappeared as she lost herself in the kiss.

Emily felt a bit dazed as she threw herself onto Draco's bed later that night. Draco for his part had been reading and was startled when he felt the bed jostle, he hadn't even heard her open the door.

"Mr. Hufflepuff finally snogged you properly I take it," Draco drawled taking in the disheveled look of his best friend over the the top of his book. "You might want to go comb out your hair it looks a mess."

"Sure..."

"I hope you took a few passageways so no one saw you looking like that."

"Uh huh..."

"Seriously Em, go change so we can talk."

"Sure..."

Seeing Emily make no attempt to move Draco grabbed the pillow next to him and hit her on the head with it.

"Hey! What was that for?" Emily asked quickly sitting up to shoot a glare at the blonde.

"To wake you from your badger induce coma."

Emily crossed her arms, "I am perfectly cognizant, thank you."

"Yeah, well perhaps you want to do something about all this," Draco said motioning up and down her body. "Then you can fill me in on your night."

Glancing over at the full length mirror Emily slightly cringed at her appearance. She looked like one of the upper years when they clumsily are found mid snog in one of the broom cupboards. Shrugging, she had been snogging, perhaps the disheveled look couldn't be helped. Deciding a shower was the best way to tame her hair and unwind before bed Emily gathered a few things before heading towards the door. Stopping she smirked at her friend who had gone back to reading his book, "Oh and Dray, he asked me on a date to Hogsmeade."

Shutting the door behind her it was only seconds before her best friend was chasing her down the hall to the bathroom asking a million questions.

"When did he ask? Did you say yes? Was it before or after you snogged? For that matter how was it? What will you wear?"

Locking the door to the bathroom after making sure they were alone Emily stepped into one of the showers closing the curtain before she finally answered him.

"I don't know what I'm going to wear I've never been to Hogsmeade before."

"So you said yes."

"Naturally," Emily responded rolling her eyes even though Draco couldn't see her.

"Hmm perhaps we should order you something new to wear, maybe a dress... no not a dress you'll freeze... how was it though?"

"The kiss?" Emily asked trying to make sure she was following Draco's thought process close enough.

"It was more than a kiss when you come back looking like you've been for a tumble in a broom cupboard," Draco drawled as he laid back on the ottoman in the middle of the large bathroom.

"I was on a rock by the lake not in a broom cupboard thank you very much and it was good, I think..."

"You think?" Draco asked propping himself up to look towards the shower he knew Emily was using.

"I think it was good but I don't know how he feels, I've never snogged anyone before."

"Well how did he act after, when you two were coming back to the castle?" Draco pointed his wand at his friend's towel levitating it to where her hand was reaching out for it from the shower.

After drying herself off and wrapping the towel around her she stepped out of the shower and walked towards one of the mirrors to start combing out her hair. Looking at the blonde's reflection in the mirror she responded, "He seemed normal. He held my hand all the way to the staircase and kissed me goodnight before he left."

"Then I wouldn't worry about it. What I think we need to focus on is what you are going to wear. You need to look good but not like you tried too hard, after all you are just going to Hogsmeade for the day."

For what felt like the hundredth time that night Emily rolled her eyes at her best friend and nodded her head to show she was listening as he kept talking about possible outfit choices for her first date.

O0o0o0O

On Halloween morning Emily was shaken awake by her annoyingly cheerful best friend.

"Wake up sleepyhead! It's Halloween morning, you can practically smell the pumpkin bread from here!"

"Leave me alone," Emily grumbled as she attempted to shove Draco away from her.

"But it's Halloween!"

"You already mentioned that," Emily said flipping so her back was to the blonde.

"Today is the Hogsmeade trip."

"That's nice," Emily mumbled into her pillow.

"Fine be late for your _first_ date!"

Emily shot up out of bed and began running around the room gathering her things to take a shower casting a _tempus_ __charm as she went. "I'm going to take a shower can you set out my clothes and I'll be right back!"

As Emily walked up the stairs towards the Great Hall she felt a bubble of excitement inside of her. She loved her outfit which was a Burberry check sweater and black skinny jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a dutch french braid, Draco had decided it was better for her hair to be out of her face with the high winds that accompanied the cold weather outside of the castle. He had also made sure that while she wore a sweater she did not bring a jacket giving her an excuse to cuddle if she got cold.

Rolling her eyes at that last thought she hooked her arm through Draco's as they made their way passed the Great Hall to the doors where an annoyed looking Filch stood checking student off an incredibly long piece of parchment.

"Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Emily Potter," Draco drawled before looking down to examine his nails seemingly already bored.

Filch quickly began checking his list before staring at the three third years and waving them out the door, "Carriages are out front, hurry along I got a line behind you!"

Noticing Cedric waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs Emily gave Draco's arm a squeeze before separating herself from her best friend and making her way towards the Hufflepuff.

"You look beautiful," Cedric greeted her before leaning down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. "Come we'll take a carriage to the village and then I thought we could start our day at Honeydukes."

"Sounds lovely," Emily replied taking Cedric's offered hand as he helped her up into the waiting carriage.

The ride to the village was quiet as Emily watched the scenery out of the window. It was a beautiful fall morning and Emily hoped the rest of the day would be as nice.

When the carriage stopped Cedric helped Emily climb down and then led her into Hogsmeade. A light dusting of snow blanketed the cobblestone streets and Emily couldn't help but be enchanted by the small town. Perched in the mountains it was a beautiful sight to behold. Emily contained her desire to drag Cedric in every direction she wished to explore and allowed him to guide her, though it was no easy task.

Honeydukes was a wonderful experience. While Emily had tried many wizarding sweets she had never dreamed that so many more existed until she entered the shop. Everywhere she turned there seemed to be a new treat to see. Cedric smiled at her as he led her around the shop answering her questions on different items and gladly filling a basket with various goodies for her. In the end Emily had a few new things to try such as chocolate skeletons, glacial snow flakes and sugared butterfly wings along with her current favorites sugar quills and dark chocolate truffles, she added a few pieces of fudge and a couple cauldron cakes for good measure. Cedric payed and had the packages sent up to the school so neither of them would have to carry the treats around the village for the rest of the day.

Cedric was happy to appease Emily, allowing her time in the apothecary to order some ingredients and not making a fuss when she took forever to explore the bookshop Tomes and Scrolls. Once she had finished he led her to a spot over looking the Shrieking Shack.

"Can we get any closer?" Emily asked as she stared at the old house that seemed to be the epitome of a 'haunted house' from a muggles children's story. There was a fence not far off blocking their path but like the house it too seemed to be falling apart.

"No, there are wards supposedly stopping people from entering. Of course that hasn't stopped Fred and George Weasley from trying, but from what I understand even they haven't had any success."

Emily nodded perhaps she could talk to the twins and see if together they could find a way into the shack. Three heads had to be better than two and to be honest the house didn't seem all that dangerous to her.

The wind seemed to be picking up and Emily began to shiver as she contemplated ways to get around the wards into the shack.

"A bit cold?" Cedric teased as he began to run his hands up and down her arms. "If you answer my next question quickly I promise to take you to the Three Broomsticks to warm up while we have lunch."

Turning her body to face the Hufflepuff seeker she looked up at him with a smile, "Ask away."

"Will you, Emily Potter, do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

Emily wanted to squeal in excitement but stopped herself instead she nodded before stretching up on her toes to kiss Cedric, "Yes."

Smiling the boy leaned back in to capture her lips in a more heated kiss. When he pulled away he took her hand leading her back down the path towards the warmth of the Three Broomsticks.

Emily met up with Draco in the Entrance Hall just in time for the Halloween feast that evening. Her cheeks were a rosy color from the cold outside and she was fighting to contain the grin that wanted to break across her face. Giving Cedric a kiss goodbye and thanking him for the lovely day she joined arms with Draco making their way into the Great Hall. As always it was a sight to behold with bats weaving through the hundreds of lit pumpkins and orange streamers made of fire that seemed to dance around the room.

"So how was your date?" Draco asked giving Emily a suggestive look as they took their places at the Slytherin table.

Smiling Emily answered the blonde, "He asked me out."

"Formally?"

"He did."

"You said yes of course."

"Of course," Emily nodded as she reached for the food that had just appeared before them. "Did you have any luck with your day in Hogsmeade?"

Draco shook his head and shrugged, "We had fun but ended up joining a few of the others on the Quidditch team. It was nice because they knew the village but it gave us no time alone."

"It will happen Dray, even if I have to help you," Emily teased her best friend.

"Ha ha"

The feast itself was enjoyable and it was a very happy and full Emily that joined the upper years by the fire in the Slytherin common room to discuss the complexities of the fire charm that was used to create the streamers in the Great Hall while a tired Draco decided to head to his room and read. Each person enjoyed a butterbeer as they discussed and debated the wonders of fire magic. It wasn't an uncommon thing to find in the Slytherin common room but it was, for Emily the first time she herself was able to enjoy the wizarding drink as they all conversed, having bought two cases while she was in Hogsmeade earlier that day.

The light mood was broken when Severus burst into the common room and called for everyone to gather quickly.

"Everyone is to change into comfortable clothes you can sleep in and head to the Great Hall as quickly as you can. Prefects make sure no student is left behind before you leave this area." Swooping down he approached Emily grabbing her arm lightly he guided her from her place on the couch to the alcove by the wall away from the students who were all heading towards their dorms.

"Go to Draco and do not leave his side tonight, understood?" At Emily's nod he continued, "Black has been sighted in the castle. He is no doubt gone by now but we need to do some checks. Do not wander, we still are unsure of his intentions."

"I'll go change and stay with Draco, I promise."

"Good, now hurry." With that he turned and quickly left the common room his cloak billowing behind him.

Emily made her way to Draco's room, filling him in on the little information Severus had given her as she changed into a pair of leggings and a long sleeve v-neck shirt. Finding her comfy slipper socks she threw them on before the two third years joined the rest of Slytherin House to make their way up to the Great Hall.

Most people appeared confused as they entered a now cleared Great Hall and awaited instructions on why they were being dragged out of their common rooms so late at night.

"I would like to apologize for interrupting your continued celebrations but the teachers and I are needed to conduct a search of the castle." Dumbledore's voice sounded over the whispers causing everyone's focus to shift to the Headmaster. "For your safety you will be staying in the Great Hall tonight. The prefects will be expected to patrol the room and watch the entrances while the Head Boy and Girl will be in charge should you need anything."

Percy seemed to stand straighter and puff out his chest. His head nodding as the Headmaster finished, "Should there be any disturbance send word with one of the ghosts who will be here to help you."

With one last look at the Hall Professor Dumbledore waved his wand and the floor became covered with purple sleeping bags. "Sleep tight."

As most of the hall broke into hushed whispers wondering why they were being forced to sleep in the Great Hall Draco leaned down to pick up two sleeping bags before pulling Emily off towards the teacher's platform where their table usually rested. People seemed to be avoiding the area so he thought it would be the perfect place for them to sleep and be able to watch over the Hall if something did happen.

"Lights out in five minutes!" Percy yelled to the Hall though no one seemed to care. Emily shook her head as she watched the boy try to force people to start finding a place to settle in for the night.

Emily smiled as she felt a kiss be pressed to the side of her head and an arm wrap around her shoulders.

"Hi," Cedric whispered. "Mind if I join you."

Draco looked annoyed as Emily shook her head at the Hufflepuff, "Not at all."

"Won't your friends miss you?" Draco asked as he raised an eyebrow at the seeker.

"They'll be fine."

"You need a sleeping bag," Draco said motioning to the bags around the room, "I only grabbed two."

"This is fine actually," taking out his wand Cedric pointed to the sleeping bag Emily was going to use, it expanded and looked as if two people could comfortably fit into it. "We can share."

Trying to control her blush Emily allowed Cedric to climb into the bag first before joining him. Emily tucked herself into the Hufflepuff's side as she looked up at her best friend who was staring down at her with his arms crossed. "Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to join the rest of us and try to get some sleep."

Shaking his head Draco crawled into his own sleeping bag and mumbled, "Severus is going to kill me when he finds out I let you do this."

"Night Dray," Emily called out pretending not to hear his last comment.

"Night Em, goodnight Mr. Hufflepuff."

Cedric laughed as he responded, "Goodnight Draco." Kissing the top of Emily's head he added, "And goodnight my girlfriend."

"Night Ced."

Emily closed her eyes, within minutes Cedric had drifted off but sleep eluded her. She thought about Sirius Black, if he had made it into the castle he could and likely would do it again. She doubted she would meet the man tonight but she knew it was only a short time before she would be faced with meeting him. She wondered if she was ready for that meeting and just what she would say to the man who in her dreams seemed so broken yet somehow is thought to have betrayed her family.

Since she was awake Emily noted that every hour a teacher would enter the Hall to check on the students. Emily rolled onto her other side and Cedric seemed to follow her wrapping one of his arms around her waist before settling back into a deep sleep. At what Emily thought was three in the morning Professor Dumbledore entered the Great Hall and made his way towards Percy. They only just started to talk when they were joined by Severus. Emily noticed Percy pointing in her direction and immediately closed her eyes turning her focus on keeping her breathing even.

"Must she be snuggled up with that Hufflepuff," Emily heard Severus sneer.

"Its young love," the Headmaster replied. "Leave them be Severus."

Severus seemed to make a humph noise, and Emily could picture the man, arms crossed looking annoyed as he stared down at her. "I do not like him."

"Come now, no father likes seeing his daughter with a boy."

"I'm not..."

"Oh hush Severus, let us go have some tea and relax I doubt either of us will sleep much tonight anyway. We can leave them to their dreams."

It seemed like a long moment before Emily heard the sounds of the two men moving away from where she laid. She turned over once again and burrowed her head into Cedric's chest. Focusing on his breathing she found herself finally drifting off to sleep.


	39. Chapter 39

**39**

It wasn't long before word spread through the castle that Sirius Black had been the reason for the slumber party in the Great Hall on Halloween. The theories running through the students got more outrageous by the day. In some he turned into a plant, others he was so powerful he could command the dementors to stand down as he waltzed into the castle. If he were that powerful, Emily thought as she passed another group of students discussing the event, then he wouldn't have waited over a decade to escape Azkaban.

Another topic of discussion was the Fat Lady, the protector of the Gryffindor's common room entrance. Her portrait had been ripped on the night of Black's break in. Fred and George were initially thrilled with her replacement Sir Cadogen but they seemed to be the only ones. From what Emily had heard, the portrait challenged anyone who passed him to a duel and was constantly changing the password for protection without informing a single soul.

"I must say, this is finally getting old." Emily and Draco looked up from their cauldron as the twins entered the room.

"Can't get into your common room again?" Draco teased.

Emily nudged her best friend as the twins set about prepping their work station. "Gred and Forge would never tire of that, just yesterday they were laughing as they watched a group of seventh years get into a yelling match with the painting."

"Nope."

"We're over it."

"What happened?" Emily asked, carefully watching as Draco stirred the potion counterclockwise ten times.

"We were supposed to have Quidditch practice tonight but no one can get into their rooms to get their gear."

Gred tossed his brother a jar as he shook his head, "We finally had a time where Madam Hooch had agreed to watch us as well."

"Why would you need a professor at your practice?"

"Apparently Professor McGonagall doesn't think Harry should be out in the evenings unsupervised."

"Something to do with Black."

"The team is all worked up."

"You should have seen Wood. He's panicking right now, perhaps someone should have taken him to Madam Pomfrey…"

Emily looked away from her cauldron as it started to simmer and moved towards the lounging area to wait. "Isn't he always in a tizzy?"

"More so than usual since we are playing Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin."

"Which by the way old Chap," Fred added pointing towards Draco. "I would stay far away from the team. They think you were faking the whole arm injury to get out of playing in the bad weather conditions."

"Right, I get mauled by a magical creature and somehow I'm supposed to heal perfectly overnight."

Emily rolled her eyes as she laid back to stare at the ceiling, people really didn't think logically. If Draco had been injured in a normal accident with an inanimate object or by a simple spell he would have healed quickly, unfortunately damage done by magical creatures isn't easily fixed. She felt her friend was rather lucky Madam Pomfrey was able to do all she did and the only lasting effect was the now fading tenderness.

0o0o0o0o0

The day before the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, the winds had really begun to pick up. The castle was incredibly dark, extra candles and torches were hung to help light the corridors and classrooms for the students. Draco for his part kept staring sadly out onto the grounds.

"I wish my arm was better," he repeated for the hundredth time that day.

"Dray I say this with love. Shut up." Blaise turned his head in an attempt to hide his smirk at the witch's comment. "It's almost completely healed. Madam Pomfrey even let you take off the sling but she was very clear, no Quidditch yet."

"But look out there, if I could win in this…"

"Yes, yes, you would be a hailed success and no one could doubt your talent. Now would you stop stalling we need to get to Defense."

The small group headed off quickly to make it to their next lesson and were surprised to find Severus standing in the front of the room. He nodded in the groups direction as they took their seats and Emily briefly wondered where Lupin was. As the man started his lecture he never said a word about the DADA professor so the witch concluded it was nothing special and the man must be sick, Lupin had looked rather worn down the day before.

About ten minutes in the door to the classroom was pulled open and a panting Harry rushed in. "I'm so sorry Professor…"

"I'm sure," Severus cut the Gryffindor off earning a shocked look from the boy. "I believe one point for every minute you were late is sufficient."

"Where's Professor Lupin?" Harry asked not moving from his spot by the door.

"Sit down Potter."

Harry still refused to move as his eyes scanned the room. "Is he okay?"

"If you do not sit down that will be another 10 points from Gryffindor."

"Is he sick?"

"10 points from Gryffindor." The statement was met with sighs from the Lions in the room. "If you must know so we can continue, he is too ill to teach today. I am subbing, now sit."

"What's wrong, will he be back soon?"

"He is not dying I assure you. If I need to ask you one more time to take your seat Gryffindor will be down another 50 points."

"Mate," Weasley warned, seemingly seeing reason for once. Harry shook his head and slowly made his way to his seat.

Severus walked around to stand behind Lupin's desk as he riffled through the various papers but nothing seemed to be what he was looking for. "As it appears that Professor Lupin has an issue with organization and I am unsure of what subjects you have already covered..."

"That's simple sir," Granger said waving her hand back and forth in the air trying to get Severus' attention. "We've done Boggarts, Kappas, Red Caps and just last week we worked on Grindylows."

"Did I ask for assistance Miss Granger?"

"No sir."

"Then please do not speak out of turn or your House will continue to add to its losses today."

Severus began skimming through the text until a smirk crossed his face. "Today is a good day to study werewolves," Severus announced.

"But sir, we aren't supposed to do werewolves this week," Granger cried looking over her notes frantically.

"Five points from Gryffindor. Miss Granger I do not believe I called on you to speak."

The girl blushed bright red as she ducked her head and started flipping through her book in an attempt to more than likely skim what they were about to go over.

"Everyone turn their books to page 394." Once everyone had done as instructed Severus moved back around the desk setting the open text behind him. "Can anyone tell me the difference between a wolf and a werewolf?"

Granger's hand shot into the air, a few Slytherins including Emily and Draco raised their hands as well. Severus took a moment but before he could call on anyone, Granger in her normally eager way started to blurt out an answer, "They vary in very small ways…"

"Another five points from Gryffindor. Miss Granger, if you look around you there are others in the class who know the information as well. I did not call on you and I believe I have already sufficiently warned you about speaking out of turn."

Granger looked as if she was going to cry as she surveyed the room realizing she in fact was not alone in the knowledge of what was being asked. She stared at the floor as all of the third year Gryffindors glared at the Potions Master.

"Of course they know the answer too," Weasley exclaimed, his face getting red with anger. "Their families are dark and werewolves are dark creatures! Hermione knows the answer because she studies, but you would never call on her because she's not one of your pet snakes!"

"Detention!" Snape moved to stand close to the boy who looked up fearfully at the man, suddenly he had lost all his will to fight. "You would do well not to speak in such a way in my class. Your prejudice against Houses above your station could get you in trouble. Like your friend Miss Granger, I suggest you learn to hold your tongue."

Everyone seemed to quiet down after that and the rest of class passed without another interruption. When the bell rang Severus assigned the class a paper on the werewolf to be turned into him by Monday. The Slytherins all nodded and left the room while the Gryffindors took a moment to complain about the unfairness of a sub assigning homework though they were rather mumbled complaints as no one wanted to join Weasley in detention.

The next day Emily found herself sitting in the stands waiting for the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match to start. The rain was miserable so Emily and Draco were sheltered under a large umbrella. Both teens were wrapped up tightly in warm clothes in an attempt to stave off the cold winds, the pair had also taken a little of a warming potion to help with the chill.

With the weather Emily wondered how the players would manage to see anything. The majority of the school had come to watch the game but on realizing how hard it was to see, many people had turned around and gone back in the castle to keep dry and warm.

When the teams finally took to the sky Emily sighed, "I can't hear anything."

"Perhaps they haven't done anything worth announcing."

"Or it's too hard for Jordan to see anything."

"There is that. We could always go back inside."

"Ced is playing, I should be out here watching him."

"Hard to watch what you can't even see, I'm sure he would understand."

"It's about being supportive." Draco gave Emily a look that clearly showed he thought she was being ridiculous. "Let's just give it a few minutes…"

Draco nodded his head reluctantly in agreement and wrapped an arm around his best friend as they continued to attempt to watch the match. The sky kept darkening, making it more and more impossible to see. Emily wondered why they didn't have large lights centered on the field, surely if muggles could do it in their stadiums wizards could as well.

When the lightning started Madam Hooch appeared to call a time out. Both teams landed and everyone in the stands sat back hopeful someone was going to forfeit. There was no such luck for the frozen bystanders as a few minutes later Emily noticed someone whipped by them on a broom.

The witch started to shiver and she wondered if the potion was wearing off, "Dray can you pass me the Warming Potion, I'm getting cold."

"Em, we need to go." Draco stood up and turned to help Emily up as well.

"But Ced is still playing."

"You can see him play another time. We're leaving, now."

Seeing the panic in her friend's eyes, Emily did as she was asked and stood to stand. Just as she took Draco's hand to leave dread overcame her. She heard a familiar rattling before her vision started to go black.

" _You can't have her! Please have mercy…" the woman was sobbing as she pleaded from her spot in front of a crib._

" _Stand aside you foolish girl." A dark figure kept his wand trained on one of the small figures behind the crying woman as he motion for her to move._

 _The woman shook her head unable to move, "No please, don't kill him. Take me, kill me!"_

" _You give me no choice in the matter. Avada…"_

A flash of green filled Emily's vision as the sight faded from her view. She felt weak, in the distance Emily could hear her name being called.

"I've got you Em," she heard Draco say as she fought to open her eyes. Trusting in her best friend the witch allowed her eyes to stay closed and her body to relax into his arms.

"Is she okay?" a silky voice asked.

"I noticed them and tried to get her to leave but we weren't fast enough. She took one step and fainted again."

"Take her down to my rooms, immediately. I'll send an elf with some chocolate and food. The teachers are all meeting with the Headmaster for a bit but then I will join you both."

"What's going on? Em?" a worried voice entered Emily's head and she wanted to open her eyes but her body was too weak.

"She'll be fine Mr. Diggory. Please continue to your dorm, I'm sure your House will be celebrating you."

"I think I should stay."

"I don't have time for this, return to your House. You may see Emily later."

"I have her," Draco promised. "I'll send word once she wakes up."

That must have satisfied the Hufflepuff or Draco was tired of waiting, as Emily felt herself be carried away and the cold recede a bit as she was finally taken out of the rain. She felt in a daze as she was carried through the castle to Severus' quarters. When she was placed on the leather couch she felt herself be draped in a blanket. She heard some bustling around her but as she warmed, all she wanted was to drift off to sleep.

"Come on Em, I need you to drink this."

Emily felt herself be held up a bit and a cup pressed to her lips. She could smell the chocolate as she parted her lips and allowed a bit of the liquid to flood her mouth. As she swallowed, warmth began to spread fully back into her body.

"One more," the voice instructed. She obeyed and this time she opened her eyes as a second shot of heat flooded through her. "Thank Merlin," Draco breathed helping Emily to hold the cup on her own.

As everything in the witch's brain cleared she continued to sip on the dark chocolate cocoa. "Why were those creatures there?"

"That's a good question," Severus said as he walked over to Emily and started to examine her. "The Headmaster believes the creatures are feeling starved being so far away from their prey at Azkaban. The match was an emotional feast, so to say."

"And what about the game? We sat in that weather for nothing now?"

Severus shook his head as he ensured the blanket was still tightly around the witch's lap. "Diggory caught the snitch before anyone was aware of the Dementors."

"So, Harry finally lost a match?"

"Yes, though you should know your brother is just as effected as you are by the creatures and fell from his broom about the same time you fainted. The Headmaster was quick to act and slow his fall from his broom. He is currently up in the Hospital Wing under Madam Pomfrey's tender care."

"Oh, so Ced didn't win fairly."

"Em, Mr. Hufflepuff had no idea about the Dementors. It was fair." Draco moved to sit next to Emily and pulled her into his side.

"He'll want a rematch."

Severus rolled his eyes as he moved to take a seat by the fire, "Yes he already has demanded one and his request was denied. It was deemed your brother had enough time to react and win before noticing the creatures."

"I see."

"I've informed Lucius of the events of today, he is stuck in France working on a negotiation but he sends his love and wants you to know Fudge will be hearing from him."

"Good," Draco said rubbing Emily's arm. "Though speaking of informing people, I promised Mr. Hufflepuff I would let him know once you were awake."

Draco looked over at Severus who pretended not to know what the boy wanted until finally Draco raised an eyebrow at his Godfather. The man sighed as he called one of the House elves to them.

"Master Snapey calls, what can Norbey do for you?"

"Can you inform Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff that Emily has awoken and is doing well."

"Right away Master Snapey."

As the elf bowed and vanished from the room the two teens burst into laughter, hearing Severus referred to as Snapey would never get old.

0oOoOoOo0

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Cedric said, giving Emily's hand a squeeze as the pair wandered around the dungeons. "I was worried about you."

"Once I had some chocolate I was fine."

"I would have liked to have seen you to ensure that," the Hufflepuff ran his free hand through his hair, slightly frustrated. "Professor Snape wouldn't let me visit you all weekend."

"He's a bit protective, he wanted me to rest and he said visitors in his quarters would not only disturb my peace but his own."

"And we wouldn't want that."

"No you wouldn't, have you had one of his detentions?"

"No, but I have a feeling he is looking for any opportunity to give me one. You should have seen him in my lesson last week. He practically stood there the whole class waiting for me to make the smallest mistake."

"Would you like me to speak with him?"

"No," the boy sighed turning to Emily. "I shouldn't be complaining. I should be happy you are well."

Emily nodded her head as Cedric leaned down to kiss her. Just as the kiss was heating up a throat cleared, echoing through the corridor. Cedric was quick to step away from the Slytherin and instantly froze. Turning Emily had to hide her smirk as an annoyed looking Severus stood before them with his arms crossed. Looking at the boy he motioned with his head for the him to leave.

"I'll see you later," Cedric said leaning in bravely to peck Emily's lips before quickly taking off.

After a few moments of silence Emily started to giggle and Severus rolled his eyes. "Brat."

"You don't have to scare him so much," Emily stated walking over to join the sour man as they started walking through the halls. Severus merely mad a noise in response. "Seriously, he told me that you have been paying close attention to him in potions."

"Did he?"

"Sev, please. He's a nice guy, he's a Huffelpuff…"

"Exactly he's a Hufflepuff. I find more of them in broom cupboards than any of the other Houses."

It was Emily turned to make a disbelieving noise in answer, "I don't know why you don't like him. He comes from a good family and he is the sole heir to a Noble House that has maintained a neutral stance for many decades. I would think I've done well."

"There's something about that boy…"

Emily shook her head as the pair turned down another hallway, they were going to get nowhere on this topic. "So I believe you must have something to tell me since you went to the trouble of tracking me down."

"I don't need a reason," Severus said stopping for a moment by the corridor that would take them back to the Slytherin Common Room. "Though yes, today I did wish to inform you that Lupin has requested to teach your brother the Patronus Charm."

"That's rather advanced."

"It is, most grown wizards cannot produce one and though I hate to admit it, I agree with Lupin. The Quidditch match was the second time the pair of you have fallen victim to the Dementors. You need to know how to protect yourselves."

"Is Lupin offering to teach me as well?"

"No, he stated Potter requested his help and asked Dumbledore if it would be alright to proceed. Naturally the Headmaster came to me and suggested that you may benefit from the lessons as well, so I have agreed to teach you."

"When do we begin?"

"After the holidays, I believe this year you will be participating in Yule and it will give me time to ensure you have the correct materials. There are a few books I have sent off a request for, but I don't know how quickly they will get back to me. They are rather obscure."

Emily nodded in agreement, the holidays were fast approaching and she could appreciate that he wanted her to have reading material on the topic. "Of course, when you have the books I will be happy to read through them first."

"Good, now off to bed and don't let me catch you like I did again."

Laughing Emily hugged the man before heading back to her dorms for the night.

0oOoOoOo0

The last two weeks of term passed quickly for Emily and before she knew it she was in a carriage with Draco heading into Hogsmeade for the last trip of the term.

"Remember what father said, Dementors are stationed around the village. They shouldn't come in it till night when we are gone but if you feel anything…"

"Yes, yes I know. Make Mr. Hufflepuff bring me right to you and we will head home early. You are worried over nothing."

Draco shook his head as the carriage came to a stop and he climbed out before helping Emily down. Turning to the waiting Cedric the blonde was very serious, "If anything happens you bring her straight back."

"I will, I worry for her safety too."

"Good." Draco gave the boy the once over before turning back to Emily. "Meet us for lunch at the Three Broomsticks.

"Don't worry so much," Emily said moving to take Cedric's hand. The pair took off down the cobblestone path and the witch sighed in relief. She loved Draco but he had been extremely protective as of late.

"Don't get upset with him. After the match we all just want you safe and with Fudge increasing patrols in the village we have reason to worry about you."

"I'm not fragile."

"I didn't say you were. Now, I believe you were saying something about being out of Sugared Butterfly Wings yesterday."

"Well, yes."

"Then let's go pick some up and enjoy our morning before we meet the others for lunch."

Emily agreed and followed her boyfriend towards Honeydukes.

Later in the day the pair wandered into the Three Broomsticks and joined Draco who was already seated at one of the booths in the back.

"Where's Blaise?"

"Grabbing your drinks," the Italian replied as he set down the tankards on the table. "With everyone coming in for lunch we figured it was best not to wait."

"Thanks mate," Cedric said picking up his drink and raising it up to the others. "To the end of term."

The others mimicked the Hufflepuff before they all took their first drink. Emily smiled as she felt the normal warmth spread through her body. As she relaxed back she took a moment to look around the room and to her astonishment her eyes fell on her brother Harry. From what she understood he didn't have a signed pass to come to Hogsmeade. It had been the gossip for days that McGonagall had refused to sign for him after he begged her. Emily figured he hadn't been at the Dursley's long enough to find a way to coerce them into signing it before he blew up Marge and had to stay in Diagon Alley.

Suddenly the witch watched as her brother was shoved under the table by his friends. Weasley and Granger looked worriedly towards the door as Harry suddenly vanished from sight completely, likely in thanks to the invisibility cloak he had. Following the worried Gryffindors' sight Emily realized why they were hiding her brother, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were walking towards them followed by Hagrid and nonother than the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge.

The group took a seat at the table that separated the two tables of students. Hermione looked around the room and Emily watched as the girl levitated a nearby Christmas tree to block their table from view. Shaking her head, she leaned into Cedric who was ordering her lunch. Madam Rosmerta smiled at the group as she finished writing on her pad and moved on to her newest table to welcome them.

"You okay?" Cedric asked glancing briefly over to Draco who nodded as if he too noticed Emily's distracted state.

"I'm fine, just tired from all the walking we did."

"You're sure?"

Turning she kissed the boy's cheek, "Positive."

It wasn't long before the group's food was served and the teens all dug in. Their conversations were light and excited as they discussed the upcoming break. The Malfoys would be hosting a Yule Ball this year and they would all be in attendance.

"I COMFORTED THE TRAITOR!"

Hagrid's voice caught the attention of most of the tables in the pub and Emily wondered what they were talking about. McGonagall was quick to hush the giant as the others at his table looked at him with sympathy. Shortly after, once everyone was certain there wouldn't be another outburst, they returned to their meals and conversations. Turning back to her meal Emily wasn't disturbed from her conversation until Harry darted past their table and out the side door.

"Wasn't that your brother?" Blaise asked taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"I think so."

Draco raised an eyebrow as he set his napkin on the table, "I thought he didn't have permission to be here."

"How am I supposed to know?"

Draco nodded his head as he motioned towards the front, "Shall we head back up to the castle?"

Everyone agreed and Blaise escorted Emily outside as Draco and Cedric paid their tab. It wasn't long before the group was in a carriage heading back up to the school. The group spent the rest of their time before dinner wandering in the snow-covered courtyard and talking about things of little importance.

When the group headed to the Great Hall for dinner that night they almost ran over a man in a green pinstripe suit. Looking up Emily realized they were once again seeing the Minister of Magic.

"Draco, my dear boy." The man smiled and gave a small bow to the Malfoy heir. "How are you?"

"I'm quite well Minister and yourself?"

"Well enough, though this business with Black escaping has made things rather difficult." Fudge shook his head as he looked at the rest of the group of students and his eyes went wide as he noticed Emily. Giving a bow he held out his hand and the young witch took it, letting him kiss it in greeting. "Miss Potter, my apologies. It is so nice to see you."

"You as well Minister. I do hope you'll be joining us for Yule."

"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world. Lucius has always thrown the greatest parties. And Mr. Diggory will you be joining in the festivities."

"Yes, my family is looking forward to it," Cedric answered shaking the man's hand, their Houses were on equal standing so the pair merely nodded to the other.

"Good, good." The man's eyes fell on the last member of the group and a touch of fear entered his eyes, "Mr. Zabini, always a pleasure."

"Likewise Minister," the pair nodded but neither moved to shake the other's hand.

"Well I must be off, I need to head back to the Ministry I'm afraid before I can go home. I wish you all safe travels home."

"Thank you, you as well," Draco said as the group moved aside to let the man through. Minister fudge quickly put on his bowler hat and disappeared out into the grounds.

Giggling Emily bumped Blaise's shoulder with her own, "Why do you have the Minister for Magic running out the door to escape you?"

"My mum. He used to fancy her back in school, they may have even gone on a date. When they grew older her husbands mysteriously kept dying… I think he's glad to stay far away from her or I now."

"Your mother would not have dated someone like that," Emily said looking back at where the man had once been.

"You should have seen husband number 3."

The group laughed as the entered the Hall and took their places for dinner. All in all they had a wonderful day and were very much looking forward to their departure for the break.


	40. Yule

**WARNING: Lemon content in chapter**

 **40**

 **Yule**

The journey home the next morning was rather quiet as the train left early in the morning and the teens were rather tired. Mostly they sat in their compartments reading various books and drinking coffee and tea to wake themselves up. Before they knew it they were pulling into King's Cross Station and heading off to the Manor with Lucius and Narcissa.

The Manor was absolutely magical and not just in the normal way. Every room was decorated elaborately for Yule. Even Emily's room had two trees framing her fireplace, gold stars and silver baubles hung from the branches with glass icicles sparkling throughout. On her mantel was a garland of green and gold magnolia leaves and a wreath of holly and mistletoe had been hung over her bed for good fortune.

On the morning of the Yule celebrations, the family all made their way to a large stone building on the grounds of the Malfoy estate. The dark wooden door was engraved with the Malfoy crest and the place was surrounded by a beautiful garden currently hidden by the snow. Emily took Draco's hand as Lucius opened the large door and they slowly made their way forward into the darkness. For a moment the group stood silently in the dark until suddenly the torches around the room sparked flames allowing them to see. The room was made of stone and in the center was a large platform in the shape of a rectangle.

"Let us begin," Lucius announced and each member moved to a separate corner of the room.

Lighting the circular candelabra Emily joined the others in the chant they had been taught.

" _Within the walls of darkness and night_

 _The cold grows ever stronger_

 _We seek the peace and blessings_

 _For those who walk this earth no longer_

 _When fires dwindle and rain pours down_

 _We bless these grounds once more_

 _When light returns we humbly ask_

 _To protect these haunts once more."_

Emily reached forward and picked up the candle with all the carvings on it. Turning around she faced the others in the room who in turn held a candle similar to hers. Slowly they all moved forward and placed an offering of holly and mistletoe on the center stone. Tapping the corners of the stone with the candles the fire seemed to travel along the cold surface and form a circle around the greenery. The offering was complete.

The group placed their candles on the four corners of the stone slab. They stood in silence before Lucius motioned for them to follow and they exited the crypt. They had honored their ancestors and the fires would burn for 24 hours in remembrance.

The group was quiet until they made it back to the Manor. "Okay you two," Narcissa said with a smile, she was quite proud of the pair for participating this morning. "I believe Yule has truly begun. Now, you both better start getting ready we have a big night ahead of us."

Emily and Draco nodded and quickly headed off to their rooms to start their preparation for the ball. Time flew all too quickly and before the young witch knew it a knock was sounding at her door.

"You can come in," she called taking in her appearance in the full-length mirror. She was wearing a long green dress with an open back. Her hair was held back by an emerald clasp that matched her earrings and bracelet. In the reflection she watched as Cedric entered, a small branch of mistletoe in his hand as he smiled at her.

"You look beautiful," he said holding the branch above the pair as they kissed before adding the greenery to her hair.

"You look quite handsome yourself." Emily spun around and took in the sight of her boyfriend. Summoning a spring of holly she attached it to his formal robes and kissed him once more. "Happy Yule, may the Goddess grant you light and the blessing of winter's peace."

"May the God who descended into the underworld to rest, grant you the blessings of winter's hopefulness." The pair smiled at each other for a moment before Cedric offered his arm. "We should join the others. We have a long night ahead of us."

"Oh, it can't be that bad," the witch smirked as the pair exited the room and headed towards the ballroom.

"It's not Yule that is tiring, it's the people. With every passing year the questions become more about what I will do after Hogwarts and with whom I will settle down."

"That's rather silly, as the only Heir to your House it would be quite clear what your future holds."

Cedric smiled halfheartedly down at his girlfriend and Emily wondered what bothered him about her statement. All Purebloods were raised in the same manner, more or less. The Heirs took over the jobs and titles of their father, it wasn't hard to guess what the first in line would end up doing. Of course there were always the exceptions like William but then again unlike most Heirs there wasn't much for him to inherit so he had to make a name and a fortune for himself.

The Hufflepuff was quiet the rest of the walk to the ballroom and Emily hoped she hadn't offended him. As they entered the ballroom, Emily was in awe. Everything was lit by candle light and everywhere she looked greenery decorated the room, from trees adorned with golden stars to boughs of holly and mistletoe. Music was playing and hors d'oveuvre were being passed around the room by well dressed elves. The pair made their way over to where Draco was chatting with Daphne and Longbottom.

"Emily, you look stunning," Draco took his best friend's hand and kissed her knuckles. "You know Daphne and Heir Longbottom."

Smiling the witch nodded, "Of course, blessings of the new light to you both."

"And to you as well," Daphne greeted. "It's nice to finally be invited, is it not?"

"It is," Emily agreed as Cedric offered her a glass of champagne, the witch raising her eyebrow at the action.

"Now that we are all gathered we will light the ceremonial fire and toast to the new light," the boy whispered as Draco offered Daphne a glass and Longbottom shakily took one for himself. "Plus no one will notice if you have a few tonight."

The clinking of a glass had everyone looking to the center of the room where Lucius and Narcissa stood looking out at everyone who had come to the gathering.

"We are so grateful this night to welcome you into our home. Let us gather and light the fire to begin our festivities on this night of darkness." Lucius stood and waited as everyone lifted their wands towards the ceiling. "Tonight we hold a festival of lights, as we celebrate in the dark for the awakening of the new sun. With each flame we grow in hopefulness for the upcoming year. With this in mind I ask that the gateways to the elemental realms be opened to us now. To the powers of the East and Air, be with us," everyone swirled their wands as puffs of air were released from their tips. "To the powers of the South and Fire, be with us," small flames emitted from the wands in the room creating balls of light that danced on the ceiling. "To the powers of West and Water, be with us," with a circle a quick sprinkling of water shot from the wands, no one seemed to care as some of the drops fell on their heads. "To the powers of the North and Earth, be with us," this time each person created an offering of holly or greenery and levitated it to the large golden bowl on a pedestal by Lucius and Narcissa.

"We seek peace and hope in the darkness and tonight we call upon the elements to strengthen us as we await the coming day. Great Goddess grant us Winter's peace. Great God grant us Winter's hope."

Lucius held his wand up to the golden bowl and suddenly it burst into flames as the room intoned, "Hail and Welcome!"

Narcissa stepped forward and raised her glass to the room, "Blessings to you all on this night of Yule."

"Blessings," the room replied as they all joined in raising their glasses.

Emily took a sip of her champagne and wrinkled her nose slightly at the bubbles. What an odd sensation it was but the drink itself was rather delightful and she took another sip before looking at the group around her. Longbottom looked shaken and was quick to get rid of his glass on a passing try.

"Don't like it Cousin?" Daphne giggled taking another sip herself.

"It's fine," the boy mumbled tucking his wand back into his robes. "I just promised Gran I wouldn't break anything."

"You shouldn't let her make you so nervous, you did fine with the blessings." Longbottom shrugged his shoulders and looked away from the Slytherin. "Well I am quite enjoying this. I can see why Mum loves to serve this at parties."

Emily nodded her head as she clinked glasses with her Housemate. "I agree, it is nice. The bubbles kind of tickle your nose."

"I bet we could get some and store it in the dorms for parties and feast nights…"

"It would go well with the pastries the elves usually bake and the upper years tend to have wine for themselves, I don't see why this would be such a stretch."

"Don't forget the cheese trays, that would pair well."

"What kind of parties do you Snakes have?" Longbottom asked looking between the two witches.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me Gryffs don't drink at your parties?" Daphne raised an eyebrow at her cousin. "The stories that go around about the things the twins sneak into the school. And I heard after your last victory McGonagall had to come and send everyone to bed because it got so out of hand."

"I think he meant we are a bit posh Daph."

"Oh," the girl giggled and finished her champagne. "Well…"

Draco and Cedric seemed to shake their heads as they chatted with each other, both had exchanged their champagne glasses for a different drink but Emily couldn't tell what they were drinking now. Emily who never really spent much time with Daphne before was enjoying the girl's presence. It wasn't often she had a girl to speak to and she found though the girl was very much a gossip, she was also rather smart.

"Would you like to dance?" Cedric asked offering his hand out to Emily. The witch inclined her head and the pair was shortly followed onto the floor by Draco and Daphne. The teens had a fun time swirling around the floor, laughing and joking with each other as they did so. And while it was fun Emily had the most odd sensation that something was missing yet she pushed it from her mind as Cedric handed her another glass as they spun past an elf.

"I'm going to get myself in trouble tonight," she laughed as they waltzed passed Severus who shook his head at the pair.

"I won't let you get too crazy. Are you hungry yet?"

"Starving."

"Good, let's go see if we can find the others."

The pair found the others sitting around a table in the corner of the room and joined them. Longbottom seemed to be focused on his food while Draco and Daphne seemed to be enjoying themselves. Cedric held Emily's chair out for her before heading to find an elf. When he returned he had another dark drink in his hand and another glass of champagne for the witch.

"What are you drinking?"

Cedric smirked as he held out his glass to his girlfriend who tentatively took it. "It's Swott Malt Whiskey."

"Whiskey?" the witch stopped short of taking a sip. "Should we be drinking this?"

"Oh just try it," Daphne encouraged pointing towards Emily's best friend. "This one decided to try firewhiskey and it actually burns going down."

"Lovely," Emily looked at the drink in front of Draco and shook her head before looking down at her own glass. Realizing everyone was waiting on her, even Longbottom had torn his attention away from his food to see if she would try it, she lifted the glass to her lips and took a small sip. The liquid had an odd flavor as it passed over her tongue and down her throat but once it settled in her stomach there was an instant sort of warming sensation. Looking to her boyfriend she shrugged as she handed him back his drink, "not bad."

Her response earned laughter from the rest of the table and as Cedric and Emily were finally served their food the group settled into light conversations.

"Cedric my boy," a jovial man, whom Emily knew to her boyfriend's father, clapped his son's shoulders as he smiled at the table. "I hope you all don't mind but I need to steal my son for a moment. I promise Miss Potter I will return him forthwith to you!"

The young witch giggled as she nodded her head, "Of course Mr. Diggory."

"It's Amos, my dear!"

Emily nodded her head, "Of course, Amos. As long as he comes back for another dance."

"I will," Cedric answered his face rather tight. He stood up quickly forcing his father to take a step back as he leaned in and kissed the witch's lips. "I wouldn't dream of leaving you tonight on this celebration of light."

There was something odd in the way the Hufflepuff was acting but Emily just smiled at her boyfriend in return. As the pair went off, Emily watched as they were shortly joined by Lucius and Severus who all ducked out of the hall through a side door.

"Is he okay?" Draco asked looking at his friend with a little worry.

"I don't see why he wouldn't be. Though he did mention he doesn't like these types of parties, something about all the expectations."

"He looks like he's been having a good night to me," Daphne said reaching for her champagne glass.

Draco was quicker than her and moved the glass in front of her cousin Longbottom, "When you finish the food on your plate you get that back."

"Oh, she's not that bad Dray."

"You both are smiling."

"So."

"You two never smile in public. I think for the moment you've both had enough."

The girls rolled their eyes at the blonde but they tucked back into their meals and finished them. After dessert had come and gone the girls each had a champagne glass in their hands as they stood out on one of the balconies overlooking the estate.

"We should spend more time together, you aren't as scary as people think."

"And you aren't as much of an Ice Queen as people think."

"I won't tell if you don't," Daphne said raising her glass to the other Slytherin. The girls clinked their glasses as they toasted to their new friendship.

"Daphne would you like another dance?"

The girls turned around and Draco was waiting with his hand outstretched. "I would love one."

Emily watched as the pair slipped back into the ballroom and she sighed, she wondered what on earth Cedric was doing and why he hadn't returned. She decided to see if she had somehow missed him and made her way back inside. Finishing her glass she set it off to the side and almost ran into Marcus. She was feeling slightly giddy after her last drink and upon seeing the older boy she giggled as she hugged him tightly.

"Where have you been all night?"

The older Slytherin smiled and lifted the young witch off her feet and spun her in a circle. "It's nice to see you too Little Snake." As he set her down he kept his arm behind her to steady her. "I've been dancing and talking to all the Ministry officials. Making connections for next year when I have to start learning the ropes from my father."

"Are you excited about leaving Hogwarts?"

"It will be a change but hopefully with the whisperings of what is taking place at Hogwarts next year I can come back a bit and check on my favorite Little Snake."

"What do you mean whisperings?"

"Emily." Turning the witch saw her boyfriend coming towards her, he looked more relaxed than earlier as she smiled and waved. "Marcus," the boy greeted the Quidditch captain with a firm handshake.

"Diggory." There was an awkward silence as the boys stared at each other before Marcus turned his attention to Emily. "May the God who descended into the underworld to rest, grant you the blessings of winter's hopefulness." The boy leaned down and kissed the girl's forehead before giving one last glance to Cedric. "Blessings of the new light to the both of you."

Emily turned to her boyfriend who watched the older boy vanish into the crowd. "Ced, where have you been?"

"My father wanted to introduce me to some people and make sure I was networking properly."

"Is that a bad thing? You will need to study under him for a while, will you not?"

"Of course not." The boy leaned in and kissed his girlfriend though Emily could tell the tightness in his stature was back. "I believe I promised you another dance."

"Yes, you did."

Cedric led the Slytherin witch onto the dance floor and the pair joined in on the waltz that was currently playing. They passed Draco and Daphne a few times but Emily couldn't shake that something was off with her other half. Eventually Daphne and Emily had gone with some of the older women into a sitting room off the hall and enjoyed more drinks and music. The men for their part went to another room in which the younger girls were informed was called a smoking room for their own time to unwind. By the time Emily saw Cedric again she and Daphne were full of giggles as they sat in the corner by a window.

"Ced, what are you doing here? Aren't the men supposed to be somewhere else."

"If you look around we have all come to collect our dates." As Emily surveyed the room she realized he was speaking the truth and the men were now all helping their women to their feet. "Let me take you back to your room."

"Daphne, may I escort you back to the Floo Room?" Draco offered his hand to Daphne who smiled as she used the man for support. Emily doubted the girl could have walked on her own, having had a few more drinks than herself and Emily felt slightly dizzy as she stood up. "I will see you in the morning Em."

"Sleep well Dray and you too Daph." Emily giggled as she let her boyfriend lead her away from the room. The pair walked quietly at first until they got to a deserted hallway far away from the others. With a wave of her wand music started to play and she attempted to get Cedric to dance down the hall with her but he merely shook his head at her actions.

"Come on, it's Yule and its beautiful tonight. Dance with me!"

"Haven't we danced enough already?"

"I could dance all night!"

The boy caught up to the witch and put his arm tightly around her waist as he pulled her into him. "I can think of other ways to spend our time." With a hard kiss he waltzed Emily backward and she heard a door open. As she was let go she realized they had made it back to her rooms. Allowing the spinning to slow in her head she turned to her boyfriend to tell him goodnight.

Before she could say a word Cedric was kissing her and within seconds his tongue was running along her lip. Emily moaned as she wrapped her arms around the boy's neck. Slowly she felt herself being guided backwards until she could feel the bed just behind her.

"Ced, don't you have to go?"

With a wave of his wand the door shut to Emily's room. "Not yet."

Still not able to completely focus the girl nodded in acceptance. It wasn't long before Cedric's over robe was on the floor and he was stood in slacks and a white button up kissing her. The pair kicked off their shoes and Emily felt as her boyfriend's hands hooked under her dress and slowly pulled it down her body as he kissed his way down. Kissing her thigh, he smiled up at her and allowed the dress to pool on the floor. As he stood he removed his shirt before taking Emily back into his arms and pulling her tightly against his now bare chest.

Emily felt herself be lifted and set down on her bed. Pushing herself back to get more comfortable, Cedric followed until he had settled his weight on top of her. The young witch shook her head, still slightly unsure of what was happening. Her and Cedric had made out plenty of times but never had he seen her so bare. She felt him push himself against her and an odd sensation traveled through her body causing her to squirm under the boy. Her actions seemed to encourage him and he continued his actions.

"Ced…"

"Once second." The Hufflepuff rolled slightly off the girl as he removed his slacks and tossed them to the floor.

He rolled back but not so he was on top of her this time. His lips reconnected with Emily's as his hand began to trace the outline of her arm before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand towards his lower half. When the witch touched his shaft she froze, "Cedric…"

"Don't worry, I'll guide you." His hand started moving hers up and down until she seemed to feel confident to do it on her own. His hand moved back to her body and Emily could feel his fingers playing with her lower lips. She moved as another jolt went through her and she tightened her hold causing Cedric to mimic her actions.

The build up was slow, but eventually Emily couldn't help it as her back arched slightly and her breath seemed to stop for a moment. As she came down from the new high she could hear Cedric chuckling. Her hand had gone still but she felt something slightly wet and sticky on her leg as she tried to move. She was tired. Cedric pulled her into his side and kissed the side of her head as he whispered, "Sleep." And almost instantly the witch obeyed.

When Emily woke up the next morning it was to find her bed empty and a massive headache. She rolled onto her side and tried to hide her head in her pillow. This was not a good feeling. Her stomach rolled as she heard a small pop before a clucking tongue.

"Mistress needs to wake up."

"I don't feel good."

"Mipsy knows, drink your coffee and you feel better."

"Did you put something in it?" the witch asked reaching out blindly for the mug which the elf kindly put in her hand.

"Hangover potion. Mistress had too much fun last night."

"Yes, mistress did." Emily forced herself to sit up some and took a large gulp of her coffee. As the liquid settled in her stomach her aches and pains immediately started to go away. "I love magic."

"Mmm." The elf looked less than impressed by her charge this morning. "Take shower quickly, Master is saying we start brunch at half ten."

"What time is it now?"

"Ten."

"Right, thank you Mipsy." Emily pushed herself from her bed and walked into her bathroom to start her shower. Passing the mirror she took a moment to examine herself. Her hair was everywhere, the emerald clip was dangling by a few hairs, her makeup was a mess and she was clearly naked. Shaking her head she started the water running before removing all of her jewelry and ducking under the warm spray. As she washed she thought back to the night before, everything was a bit off when she got back to her room with Cedric. She could only remember pieces of what had happened and that bothered her to an extent. Rinsing her hair, she turned off the water and exited the shower. She moved quickly to dry her hair and get dressed only doing light makeup.

Exiting her room she ran into Draco who smirked and offered her his arm. "Morning sunshine."

"Morning."

"I thought you would be in a happier mood," the boy said looking at his friend curiously. "I saw Cedric sneaking out of your room last night trying to button up his shirt."

"Did you?"

"Was Mr. Hufflepuff no good?"

"I don't know, we didn't go that far. Or at least I don't think we did."

Draco stopped for a moment and looked at his best friend seriously, "Did he take advantage of you?"

"Dray, no need to be protective. I'm fine, I just drank a little too much last night and the potion Mipsy gave me took away most of it but I'm still tired."

"Are you sure?"

Emily rolled her eyes and urged her friend to start walking again, "Of course I'm sure. I think the question that begs answering is why you were up to see him sneak out?"

"I took Daphne back home and talked to her for a while. Her elf gave us some sobering potions and we got to know each other…"

"You snogged her." The blond went a touch red but merely shrugged his shoulders. "What about Blaise?"

"I got a letter yesterday before the party, his family is planning on announcing the news this coming summer but he has been betrothed to an Italian girl. The family is a prominent one and the match will be good for his family's holdings and future business."

"I'm sorry."

"Eh, it's okay. I doubt father would have been impressed with a match like him anyway with his mother's track record."

"Well, I quite enjoyed Daphne's company last night."

"Yeah, it couldn't be that bad. Snogging her was nice." Emily snorted as they rounded the corner towards the dinning hall. "It could be a good match, at least Father thinks so."

"Was he the one to encourage this?"

"He spoke to me before the party. He thinks a contract between our families would be beneficial, especially since they are a known neutral family."

"How long do you have to decide?"

"He told me to take this next term and get to know her and that we would discuss it more over the summer."

Emily nodded, that seemed reasonable and the witch knew Lucius would never force Draco into a relationship for business purposes. She did wonder though about her own affairs. Contracts were common among the Purebloods in high society. She knew she would one day hold a title and a place in that world, but she was also a twin. Perhaps it was time she sat down with Lucius again and went over some of the customs she would be starting to have to deal with.

"There you two are," Narcissa smiled at the pair. "Come join us and then we can go open presents."

The group had a quiet breakfast in which Severus joined them. The talk was filled with comments of the night before and what a lovely night it had been. Then again Severus hadn't seemed to share everyone's sentiments but the man was hard to please.

As they were opening their gifts in the small lounge off the dinning room the group was laughing and enjoying the morning. Emily had stopped being so awed by the gifts and was grateful to have a family in which to share these moments with. As they all seemed about done Mipsy popped into the room with a rather long shaped gift that she levitated over to the witch.

"What is this?" Lucius asked watching the elf with caution.

"Mipsy and the elves ran all the tests, its clean Master."

"But who is it from dear?" Narcissa asked and when the elf shook her head Emily could merely shrug.

"There's no name attached."

"How odd," the woman remarked standing to join the younger witch on the chaise she was sitting on. "Go on open it."

Emily did just that and sat in stunned silence at what was before her.

"No way!" Draco announced leaving his spot to check out Emily's gift. As she lifted it up the whole room could see it was a broomstick and on the handle in gold lettering was the word 'Firebolt'.


	41. Patronus

**Hey guys, for some reason the chapter notification didn't get sent out to some people for chapter 40. Not sure why that happened but if you missed it, chapter 40 is up and is called Yule. Enjoy.**

 **41**

 **Patronus**

 _Emily,_

 _I wish I could have been at the Yule celebrations but we were finally able to get into the tomb and the Goblins were against the idea of me leaving even for a night. It would have been nice though, growing up my family never celebrated Yule but I always enjoyed it when one of my friends would invite me to celebrate with them. I still do not know why my family is so against the old traditions but I very much enjoy them and embrace them. Perhaps it has something to do with my study of ruins and all things 'old'._

 _As for the Firebolt, if you and Lucius would like me to look at it I can do so. They only thing is Lucius is having to request my help through the Goblins so unfortunately you will have to leave the broom behind when you go back to school for the term. It also means I will miss you when I visit but hopefully I can get some time off this summer once the work site out here is more settled._

 _Are you sure everything is going okay? Your last letter seemed a bit off. I know third year can be a tough year adding new classes but I believe in you._

 _Thank you by the way for the new robes and book. I've already gotten compliments on my good taste, so I have you to thank for that._

 _Have a safe trip back and I will write soon,_

 _Bill_

Emily set the letter aside as she climbed off her bed and went to lay next to Isis by the fire. The snake curled around the witch, her own form of cuddling with the human.

" _Are you okay missstresss…"_

" _I'm fine."_

The snake made a hiss as if she didn't believe the girl but rested her head against the witch's anyway. The girl started to stroke her companion. Why did people keep asking her if something was wrong? Sure things had changed between her and Cedric since the night of Yule but it wasn't entirely bad, it was just different. As for everything else in her life, she supposed it was going well. Then again there was the question of who had sent her the Firebolt…

A knock at the door broke Emily from her thoughts as she called for the person to enter.

"Em, we need to get going." Draco walked into the room and looked around confused before noticing the girl tangled up with her snake. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Mmhmm."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

"Good, then we need to get going." Draco moved over to Emily and helped her get up from the floor. He scratched Isis' head who hissed in appreciation before offering the witch his arm.

" _See you soon…" Emily hissed._

The snake merely nodded as it curled back up in front of the fire. No doubt Severus would be by to pick her up again shortly.

The journey back to school was rather quiet for Emily, Cedric had stopped by to say hello but had spent most of his time with his friends in another compartment. Blaise who was clearly feeling guilty over his recent news had hidden himself behind a text book the entire ride. The only time she had seen more than the boy's eyes was when Daphne had made an appearance. Her interactions were innocent enough but the kiss to Draco's cheek had drawn an annoyed glare from the Italian.

When the group disembarked from the train, Draco as usual began escorting her to the carriages with Blaise not far behind.

"I can take it from here."

Both Emily and Draco looked at the Hufflepuff who was blocking their way and had his hand extended to take Emily's. The witch gave her friend a reassuring smile and allowed her boyfriend to lead her away. When the couple were in the carriage the witch couldn't help herself, "What was that?"

"What are you referring to?" the boy continued to look out the window not bothering to turn and look at her.

"We never usually ride together."

"Before we weren't dating and it was my own mistake that I did not accompany you on the train home for Yule."

"You don't have to escort me, you can spend the time with your friends. They probably see you less than I do on breaks anyway."

"It's no bother." The boy turned and Emily recognized the tight smile he was giving her again, it made her slightly uneasy as he squeezed her hand before looking back out the window. Deciding not to push the topic further the witch rested back in her seat as the carriage made the rest of the way up to the school. When they came to a stop he helped her down and to climb the steps into the Entrance Hall. His body seemed to relax as his friends surrounded the pair and he began chatting with them again.

Emily wasn't used to being around Cedric's friends, though none of them seemed to mind her presence. The witch stayed quiet by her boyfriend's side as he and friends carried on.

"Miss Potter." Emily gave an internal sigh of relief at hearing the voice behind her.

"Yes Professor?" turning the witch acknowledged the stern man.

"My office please."

"Of course." She turned to her boyfriend, "I'll see you later."

The boy nodded his head and gave her a kiss before his attention was back on his friends. Moving quickly Emily followed Severus down the stairs towards his quarters in the dungeon. When they reached the rooms, Emily headed straight for the sofa and curled up in her favorite spot.

"Did you finish the books I assigned?"

"I did," the witch thanked the elf who had popped in with a tray of coffee and tea, along with some biscuits.

"Good, I have been informed by Lupin he plans to start teaching your brother within the next week. I believe we should not waste time either. It is my understanding that the Minister is getting anxious having yet to catch Black and he is pushing for the Dementors to be allowed closer to the school once again."

"Hasn't Lucius done anything to dissuade him, certainly he could help influence the man."

"He has tried but the Minister seems to be getting a backbone about these things. We aren't sure why or where this bravado is coming from."

"Odd." Emily hummed as she took a sip of her coffee, her companion merely nodded his agreement as he poured himself a cup of tea. It was a few minutes later as the witch summoned her second biscuit that she looked over to Severus, "So when do we start?"

"Tuesday night."

0oOoOoOo0

Classes started off well and by Tuesday evening Emily found herself sitting with Cedric at the Hufflepuff table, he had insisted she join him. The witch wasn't sure why it mattered to him if she ate at her House table or with him as the entire dinner he was focused on his friends. Every now and then he would take her hand and squeeze it but otherwise it was as if she wasn't there. Glancing up at the Head table Emily watched Severus sweep from the Hall after looking at her and sending a mental nudge.

"Ced, I have to go."

"We haven't finished yet."

"I know, but I have, and I need to meet with Professor Snape." Emily was careful to use the Potion Masters full title around the Hufflepuffs.

"Why would you need to meet with the Great Bat of the Dungeons?" one of Cedric's friends asked.

Emily's face hardened and Cedric was quick to fix the situation before his girlfriend resorted to hexing someone. "He's her Head of House." The look he leveled at the other boy clearly told him to hold his tongue. "Come on I'll walk you down."

"You don't have to."

"It's fine," Cedric stood up and offered the witch his hand.

Emily took it but she shook her head, "You'll get something from the kitchen if you are still hungry right?"

"I really will be fine, but thank you for worrying," Cedric leaned down to kiss his girlfriend before nodding in goodbye to his friends and leading her from the Hall. "So why are you meeting with Professor Snape?"

The way he said the name made Emily raise an eyebrow in question but her boyfriend seemed to not notice or at least not want to explain so after a few seconds of silence she decided to answer his question. "We are doing some spell work tonight."

"Anything in particular?"

"The Patronus charm."

"I see, that's quite an advanced spell."

"I know but clearly I haven't had the best luck with the creatures…"

"I'm not against you learning it," Cedric cut in, the way he said it sat oddly with the young witch, it was almost like he thought he had a say in what she learned. "I just am surprised."

"Lucius and Severus have been teaching Draco and I spells beyond our year level for awhile now. You've had tutors who help train you that your father hires over the summers. Is it really surprising, most of the Purebloods have extra instruction?"

"I'm aware but most grown wizards cannot produce a corporeal Patronus, I doubt my tutor would even attempt to teach it to me unless I expressed an intent to work as an Auror."

Emily laughed, "That's just silly your job shouldn't limit the spells he teaches you. You are going to be Head of your House, I would think that warrants learning as much as you possibly can."

"And I will but this next summer I will be focused on learning my family magic. I won't be training with the tutor like I used to be, most of my time will be spent with my father so when I see the tutor his time will be more limited." Emily gave a small shrug as they rounded the corner towards Severus' office. "Is Draco going to be with you for this lesson?"

"Not tonight."

"I see." Emily looked up at her boyfriend and tried to gage his mood but once again she got the feeling that something was slightly off.

"You may leave Diggory."

The witch looked forward and realized they had made it to their destination. Severus stood in the Hall facing the pair his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. Cedric for his part looked as if he wanted to say something but instead he released a breath and turned to face Emily. "I will see you in the morning."

Emily nodded her head and allowed her boyfriend to kiss her longer than was probably appropriate with Severus standing right there.

"Goodbye Mr. Hufflepuff."

Emily smirked as her boyfriend tried to hide his annoyance before taking off back down the corridor.

"You know you could be nicer."

From the look she received it was clear he didn't agree with her assessment. "We will be up on the seventh floor tonight.

The girl nodded and followed the sour man as he led her to a passageway hidden behind a statue of a snake. She swore she heard him whisper, "Five points from Hufflepuff" but she didn't comment on it. The passage was a long one and had quite the climb, it let the pair out near a tapestry that was of Barnabas the Barmy. Severus paid it no mind as he walked up to a large stretch of bare stone wall, walking back and forth three times a large wooden door began to appear. The man held the door open and motioned for Emily to enter. The witch was surprised by the room that had suddenly appeared, training dummies lined one of the walls and in the center of the room was a large dueling mat. It wasn't spectacular but it was an impressive room for training. She wondered why anyone would hide the space, but perhaps it wasn't about what was in the room instead maybe it was about the things that were practiced in the room.

"It's called the Come and Go Room, others refer to it as the Room of Requirement. I believe this was Rowena's creation and where she likely spent most of her time. It's very possible this was her Chamber of Secrets."

"Does that mean it doesn't always look like this?"

"No, it does not. You must pace three times in front of the wall and focus on what you wish from the room and then it shall create it for you."

"And once you are inside the room?"

"You merely need to think on what you wish to add, no need to pace again."

Emily closed her eyes and focused, suddenly a bookshelf appeared. Walking over to the familiar item the witch picked up one of the books and smiled. "Clearly the room summons things from other parts of the castle."

Severus came over and plucked the book from her hands, his eyes instantly found what had brought the smile to girl's face. "Brat."

She ignored the man and selected another book, "Kind of interesting, don't you think. I wonder if everything is summoned or if it can create things that don't reside within its walls…"

The look Severus was giving Emily was no deterrent for her as she closed her eyes and the Potion Master's favorite chair appeared. The witch was quick to curl up in said chair as she settled in with the book and pondered the limitations the room and how she might be able to test them. It wasn't long before the book resting in her lap flew from her hands and landed in Severus'.

"Well that wasn't nice."

Within seconds the bookshelf and its contents vanished, likely returned to their original place in the Potion Master's quarters. Before she could even think to stand the chair joined the bookshelf and Emily found herself on the floor.

"Did you have to get rid of the chair?"

"We are not here for you to read through my entire library. Or do you wish to lose your soul the next time you encounter a dementor?"

"You would never let that happen."

"I will not always be there. You attract trouble like no one else I have had the displeasure of knowing."

Emily hummed, "I blame my brother and bad luck, I never go looking for the adventures. Also, I think we both know what a delight I am and how much you enjoy knowing me."

"Such a delight, now join me." Emily moved to stand next to the man. "Lupin has decided to use a boggart for your brother's lessons but I am unsure if that will work for you. As I have told you before fears are a difficult topic. You must truly fear something for a boggart to take its shape."

Nodding Emily agreed with Severus, "It's not that I'm above fear, I certainly have felt fearful before…"

"We do not need to delve into fear today. Emotions are not easy to speak about and I don't expect you to go into detail with me aloud tonight. I am sure you can imagine my decision to not overwhelm you with adding another strong emotion tonight."

"Because the Patronus is fueled by love…"

"Correct, I want you to focus on one difficult emotion until you have gotten strong and competent enough to deal with the elements of fear and love at one time."

Emily nodded in understanding, "So what would you like me to do tonight."

"Tonight, we will work on the intonation of the charm and attempting to cast it without facing an enemy. If you read all of what I assigned you, you are aware that the charm is useful for sending messages. In those instances, you will not be facing an enemy and it will be far easier to cast. It will also be a useful skill to have for the future."

"Okay."

"Close your eyes and call forth your memory. When you feel ready speak the words 'expecto patronum' aloud."

The witch did as instructed and called forth the memory she had thought would help her best. She allowed the scene to play replay in mind…

 _She laid in Draco's bed, her head tucked into her friend's chest. She felt the relief surrounding her as he held her tightly to him._

" _Never again," he promised her. "Never again will those animals be able to hurt you. I will protect you."_

 _His words were said with so much strength for the first time in her life Emily truly believed it. She was going to be free and she had a new best friend to thank for it. The world she had only just entered went beyond anything she could ever dream. She felt strength in this new life and in her newest companion. She finally had a place to belong, she was a witch and she would finally be free of her muggle relatives._

 _Draco's arms gave her a squeeze and she felt herself begin to drift off to sleep. She was safe._

Letting the feelings of the memory wash over her, she raised her hand and spoke the incantation, "Expecto patronum."

Silver smoke began to emote from her wand whirling around itself, slowly it started to grow outward until it suddenly vanished.

"That was a good first try," Severus said remaining where he was. "Try it again."

And she did, for the next hour the young witch attempted the charm over and over to similar results. Finally, she felt drained and tired. Severus could tell she was at the end of what her magical reserves could likely handle for her first night attempting such an advanced spell.

"I think that will be all for tonight." He handed the girl a bit of dark chocolate. "How do you feel?"

"Exhausted."

"You will get better with time, the more practice you put into using your reserves the more it will build up to sustain you for longer."

"I feel like I have practiced longer than this though."

"You have," Severus agreed motioning for Emily to follow him from the room. "You have never though had to tax your core with a spell like this before. When you are dueling, the curses and hexes you have used have not been to this magnitude."

"By learning this, I will be able to start practicing more advanced magic then."

Severus shook his head, a smirk on his lips. "You never cease."

"Where is the fun in slowing down?"

"You are already beyond your year in knowledge. There is no need to push yourself too far."

"This coming from a man who was creating complex spells and potions before the end of his sixth year. Were you not the youngest person to achieve your mastery in potions?"

"For the last few centuries, but others have made the same accomplishment and I know you have tried dabbling with spells."

"Not well, I have only been able to slightly alter spells."

"Like the birthday howler you sent William."

Emily nodded, "I was able to alter the color from red to blue and instead of yelling it sang. It wasn't a very difficult alteration though."

"Far better than most fifth year students could accomplish."

Shrugging Emily exited the passageway in the dungeons and stopped, "I guess but where is the fun in being average. I want to be the best."

It was the first time Emily had spoken the desire and Severus nodded in understanding. "You could never be average." Giving the girl a hug he urged her away towards the dorms, "Now off to bed."

The rest of the week passed by quickly and come Saturday Emily was grateful for the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. It meant that Cedric had to spend the day with his team and together they would go and scout the match. He would be unable to drag her with him as she would be seen as a spy being from another House and so close to the members playing. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with Cedric but everything with him felt strained lately. He required her to eat with him or to spend her evening studies by his side in the library yet he barely acknowledged her.

"There you are, I didn't know if you were coming." Daphne patted the spot next to her in the stands and Emily was quick to join the other witch. She noted Blaise was no where in sight, he had been rather distant lately.

"I wouldn't miss one of Dray's games."

"Well you have been glued to the Hufflepuff's side since we returned."

Emily sighed, "I know, he has never been like this before."

"It's like you two have entered an official courtship, has he presented you with a contract?"

"No, he hasn't, he still has another year left here at school and he seems to hate speaking about what happens after he graduates."

"How odd, the Diggory family is well off, I would think he would rather look forward to all the opportunities he will have once he leaves Hogwarts."

"I can't make heads or tails of it right now," Emily said joining the other Slytherins as they cheered for their team taking the field.

"It will get better."

Emily smiled at the witch before turning her focus back to the pitch. She hoped Daphne was right, that this was just some odd phase her boyfriend was going through and perhaps once he settled back into his routine at school he would lighten back up.

As January ended and February began Emily found herself balancing the demands of her boyfriend and her friends a bit better. Of course it had come at the expense of losing her calm demeanor with Cedric but he had finally started to understand that she needed her own space as well. It was beginning to feel like it had before Yule and Emily was grateful for the change.

As Cedric pushed her up against the wall in a secluded part of the dungeons Emily moaned. She loved how he was nipping at the skin on her neck as he pressed himself against her. She pulled at his hair in an attempt to guide the man's lips back to her own. He eagerly obliged her and the pair spent the next few minutes losing themselves in the taste of the other. Eventually they slowed and Cedric rested his forehead against the witch's as the pair caught their breath.

Emily smiled as she was lowered so her feet could once again touch the floor. "I need to meet with Severus," she breathed.

"Or we could have some more fun," Cedric smirked as he leaned back down, capturing Emily's lips with a lingering kiss.

"I wish we could, but these lessons are important and there's no need for Severus to want to kill you any more than he already does."

The Hufflepuff laughed as he leaned back and pulled Emily away from the wall, "I don't know why he hates me, I'm a perfect gentleman."

Emily raised an eyebrow at the comment as she used her free hand to fix her clothes. "Do I look okay?"

The boy stopped to look his girlfriend up and down. His fingers ran over her reddened lips, "You look beautiful."

"I'm being serious."

"As am I, you look as you always do. Nothing to worry about."

Emily rolled her eyes but stretched up on her tip toes to peck her boyfriend goodbye as they reached the passageway she used to get to the seventh floor. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He hummed in response, "Have a goodnight."

Rushing up the tunnel Emily ran her wand over herself ensuring she was put together before stepping out and crossing to where the wooden door was temporarily waiting for her. The second she stepped through it she heard the familiar whoosh that made her believe the door disappeared from view on the other side of the wall.

"You are late."

"I'm sorry, I was with Cedric."

"I know. You should pay more attention to the time, I am not going to continue these lessons if you would rather slack off with a boy."

"This is the first time I have been late."

"And let it be the last time. If you had read the paper this week you would know that now is not the time to be slacking on this task."

"I read the papers," Emily challenged. "I know that Fudge has won out, the dementors will be moving closer in towards the school again. They have placed a 'kiss on sight' order for Sirius Black."

"Good then let's get to work."

The pair worked tirelessly but still the best Emily could do was create a large silver mist that was as large as she was. It was becoming frustrating, why could she not get it to form a proper shape?!

"You are doing better than you think and just look how long you can hold it," Severus encouraged her as her last attempted faded from existence.

Emily shook her head, her ability to maintain the spell was strengthening but for the last few sessions the mist had not progressed. "Maybe I'm not using a strong enough memory."

"It would be surprising for one at your age to easily understand the kind of love it takes to fuel this spell. I would have been shocked if you had a strong enough memory to fuel it from the start of our lessons."

"Then what is the point of doing this if I won't understand the emotion well enough?"

"I didn't say you will never get there, this is just the beginning and you have far exceeded many who have even attempted the spell. You will get there, it takes time." Emily sighed as she shot off a spell in frustration at one of the dummies along the wall. "Despite your tardiness today I have been impressed with your work. I was wondering if you wouldn't want to help me with some more complex brewing I have been working on?"

"You want my help?"

"Well, it would be more of an opportunity for you to learn. We have worked on some complex potions together before but this year I have been tasked with providing Lupin with his Wolfsbane, I thought you might enjoy assisting in the task."

"I would," Emily responded, quickly filing away the answer to Lupin's ailment. She had long realized something was wrong with the man and she had her guesses due to the timing of his bouts of sickness and Severus' lesson all those weeks ago. It certainly was interesting to have her thoughts validated.

"Good then you will come to join me tomorrow night. We can begin and I will show you what is required of you but you will need to take a little time everyday to stop in and check on the potion. If you are going to join me, I want you to observe the complete process."

"I can do that."

"Good, now head back down to the dorms. I want you to start reassessing your memories, you must find one that fills you with warmth and strength, it needs to power everything that rushes through you."

With a swish of his wand a deer appeared before them, the silvery beast sauntered up to Emily and nuzzled the hand she had lifted to touch it. The feeling that ran through her at being so near the animal made of silver light was awe inspiring. It made Emily wonder if at her age she would ever really be able to conjure such a creature. Before she could ponder it anymore the animal bowed to her before taking off through the wall. "I must go meet with the Headmaster, but I would also like you to read through the book I have had an elf deliver to your dorms. I believe it is waiting for you in Draco's room."

"Thank you Sev," the girl hugged the man as they moved to leave their hidden training room.

"Don't mention it Brat. Now go on."


	42. A Game and A Date

**42**

 **A Game and A Date**

Emily shifted slightly in the hall to avoid being run over by Granger, as she swept past her and Draco, as the pair made their way towards the dungeons. The two shared a look as they noticed Harry and his friend Weasley making their way down an opposite hallway.

"What happened to the golden trio?"

Emily raised an eyebrow at her friend's description of the three Gryffindors but shrugged as they continued on their path.

"How are our favorite snakes today?" Fred asked joining the two third years.

"Heading down to brew?" George added, easily falling in step with the others.

Draco nodded his head in reply, "We need to check on a few potions before this one gets summoned by Mr. Hufflepuff."

Emily rolled her eyes at her friend, he had been less than polite about the older boy's presence in the witch's life recently and she couldn't figure out why. At least from her perspective, Cedric had adjusted back to more of his old self. "He's not that bad," she defended before stepping back to have a staring contest with the first year who almost ran into her. While preoccupied with the frozen child, Emily missed the look that passed between the boys she was walking with.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" the boy was rambling as he attempted to pick up the book he had dropped. "It won't happen again." The young Ravenclaw slowly backed away from the group before finally turning and running off back in the direction he came from.

"The Slytherin Princess strikes again." Emily shot George an annoyed look as she started back on the path towards the dungeons.

Sensing Emily wasn't in the mood for jokes Fred put his arm around Draco, "So, what have you lovely snakes been up to today?"

"Classes," the witch responded as if it should have been obvious.

Draco shook his head and redirected the conversation again, "Do you two know what is wrong with the golden trio?"

"People don't seriously call them that."

"Yes, they do," the three boys answered in unison.

"Since when?"

"Since your first year, after they were awarded all those points at the feast."

"But I was with them too."

"And you're you." Emily shook her head but she couldn't deny the remark. It was no secret that she and her brother did not spend time together, let alone speak. It shouldn't surprise her that when Harry was referred to with his friends that she would not be in that picture.

"To make a long story short…" Fred said directing the group's attention back to the topic, "Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, ate Ron's rat, Scabbers."

"Or at least we suppose it did." George concluded shrugging his shoulders.

"There was a bit of blood and Crookshanks has been sneaking into the boys' dorm room."

"You're brother had a rat?" Draco looked like he genuinely felt sorry for the Gryffindor.

"It belonged to Percy but he didn't want it anymore..."

"So when Ronnikins came to Hogwarts he gifted it to him."

Emily looked at the twins and shook her head, "How long has that thing been alive?"

"Come to think of it, Scabbers has been in the family for 12 years…" George nodded at his brother's estimate.

"Rather long time isn't it?" Emily questioned. "Rats normally don't make it to five years let alone past a decade."

Draco nodded, "What type of rat is it?"

The twins looked at each other before shaking their heads, "We don't know."

"Was it magical?"

Emily looked at Draco and hit him with the book in her hand, "There are no magical breeds of rat. A rat is rat, the most magical thing about them is that their tails and spleens work great in my potions."

"Maybe there is something there though, rats live for about 3 years right?"

"We wondered but it's unlikely."

"Scabbers was rather a dull pet, didn't do much more than eat."

"Though he was smart enough to hide whenever we wanted to use him as a test subject…"

"So he had self-preservation," Emily said making her way into their potions room. "Every living being has that motivation."

The twins shrugged and dropped the topic as they moved to work on their latest potion. Emily for her part checked on her stasis charm and monitored the change in color of her own work. The group worked quietly alongside each other as they all concentrated on their own projects. It was peaceful and the boys noticed the tension that Emily had been holding onto was starting to drain from her body as she relaxed. None of them could figure out what was going on with the girl but there had been a change in her since Yule and all of them were pointing the finger at Diggory. While Emily seemed to think her little talk with him had lessoned his behaviors, the boys had noticed no change at all.

Fred and George found themselves quite disappointed in the Hufflepuff. He had been an acquaintance of theirs being on one of the House Quidditch teams and for the past few years they thought him a decent guy, they were even happy when Emily had started dating the boy. Things had changed though, the boy was far too possessive of Emily even if she didn't see it. Since Yule Diggory carried himself differently, there was a stiffness to him and any guy who dared to look in the witch's direction found themselves mysteriously tripping over things. Of course, Emily hadn't noticed and with all her extra time spent with Severus she was convinced her talk with her boyfriend about needing some time alone had worked.

"Misters Weasleys you is being wanted on the pitch."

The twins almost jumped having not heard the elf enter the room. "Who sent you?"

"Madam Hoochy said to hurry please."

"Running late to practice?" Draco teased looking up from his spot by Emily. "Wood is going to kill you!"

The twins laughed as they rushed to put a stasis on their work and gather their books. "We're blaming Sir Cadogan!"

"We don't have a death wish!"

The twins ran quickly from the room and the elf gave a short bow before popping out most likely back to the kitchens or to finish whatever task they had been doing when sent to track down the twins.

"I should probably get going too," Emily said glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Mr. Hufflepuff?"

"No, I have to meet Sev."

"You've been spending a lot of time with him working on this charm."

Emily sighed, "Today we are working on that potion I was telling you about. We haven't been practicing the charm as much."

"Why not?"

The witch tapped her cauldron and moved to collect her things turning her back on her friend, she didn't want him to see how defeated she was starting to feel when it came to the Patronus Charm. "I can't find a proper memory."

"What do you mean?"

"The charm is fueled by love but every memory I come up with falls short."

"Have you tried using a memory of you and Mr. Hufflepuff," Draco held his breath as he waited for the answer.

Emily's shoulders dropped, "Of course I have, but it wasn't enough. I mean the strongest memories I have are of us."

Draco moved to where his best friend was and pulled her into his arms. He couldn't suppress the smirk that crossed his face knowing the witch's memories with him were stronger than the ones she had with Diggory. "It's extremely advanced magic Em." The witch made an annoyed sound which caused the blonde to laugh. "You are so much more powerful than you know but you can't succeed at everything easily, it will come."

"You sound like Sev. _It will happen, focus on your memory, allow it to flow through you. Emotions are difficult, these things come with time._ "

"Em, no one doubts you will accomplish it, magic comes naturally to you. Maybe taking a break if this is frustrating you so much wouldn't be a terrible idea. You said you have a large silver disc right?" Draco felt her nod, "That's far better than most grown wizards. Is that why you have been so grumpy lately?"

"I have not been grumpy."

"Liar."

Emily shook her head as she hugged her friend tighter to her. "I need to get going or Sev won't let me keep working with him."

Draco nodded and watched as his friend rushed out of the room. He wouldn't lie he was worried about her. The relationship she was in seemed unhealthy and from the letters his father had sent him he worried about Diggory's intentions. The boy and his family had a lot to gain if Emily was to stay with Diggory. The possible titles Emily could hold though would only truly be known when she turned 15 and was allowed full access to her vaults. There was no doubt in his mind that Emily would get the titles over her brother. The titles usually went to the first born but when the first born were twins they fell to the more powerful person. Harry, while decent at practical work did not have the passion of his sister and it was clear the boy often slacked off his studies in favor of hanging around his red headed friend. No, Draco knew greatness laid in his best friend's future but for her sake he hoped she would ditch Mr. Hufflepuff before that time came.

0o0oo0oo0o0

The next morning Emily woke to a knock at her door. Waving her hand without thought the door unlocked and swung open to reveal her best friend. He leaned against the frame and took in the scene before him with a raised eyebrow. Books from Severus were scattered and open everywhere with random pieces of parchment filled with the witch's notes joining them.

"It's odd when you don't sleep in my room."

"I sleep alone at the manor most nights," Emily shrugged waving her wand to begin organizing the mess she had created the night before.

"Not when we're at Hogwarts."

"I know," the witch nodded her head in agreement. "I just didn't want to wake you. Sev said something that made me curious, so I wanted to see if I could figure it out…"

"And did you?"

Emily looked over at her friend and shook her head as the last book settled in its proper place, "No. What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing, this is how normal people feel on a daily basis." The witch shot a glare at her best friend who only looked amused, "Why don't you take a shower and get dressed, the Claws are playing the Gryffs today and rumor has it your brother received the same Christmas gift as you."

Emily looked at her friend curiously, she had slept really poorly and she couldn't think of what she had received for Christmas that her brother would have enjoyed except… "Someone sent him a Firebolt?"

Draco nodded, "Word is the Professors confiscated it and Wood has been demanding it back for weeks. I guess they have determined its safe because apparently, he has it up in the Great Hall with him and is going to be using it today."

"Why are you smirking? Shouldn't you be upset by this?"

"I should be, but you see I have a best friend who happens to have the same broom and I'm sure said friend will lend it to me, so her House team can be on an equal playing field with the lions."

Emily laughed as she grabbed her clothes for the day and made her way towards the door, "What a nice friend, you must be very lucky."

"I am," Draco offered Emily his arm and escorted her towards the showers. "Now clean yourself up and I'll meet you in the common room."

After a late breakfast in the Great Hall the pair of Slytherins made their way down to the Quidditch stands. Emily couldn't remember a morning that her and Draco had gotten to spend so much time alone together lately and it was nice but it wasn't to last.

"Where have you been?" Cedric had noticed the pair approaching and moved from where he had been waiting with his friends.

"I slept in, I spent most of my night studying. Draco came to wake me but I had to get ready and then we had to eat. Why did I forget something?"

Though the witch didn't notice since her focus was on her annoyed boyfriend, Draco's face went stony. His arm continued to hold onto Emily's not letting her fully go to her boyfriend. Diggory saw the look and was quick to shake his head, "No of course not, I had just wanted to spend the morning with you. I feel like I've barely seen you this week."

"I know, I'm sorry but my lessons with Severus are important. We can spend time together now."

"I would like that," Cedric held out his hand and Emily took it giving Draco an apologetic look. "We can do something tonight, I know I haven't seen much of you either."

"Actually, I had plans for us for tonight."

Emily looked at her boyfriend curiously before turning back to her best friend. "Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow," Draco agreed his eyes not leaving the Hufflepuffs daring him to challenge the statement. When no one said anything Draco nodded to the pair and took off towards the stands.

"Why do you look upset?"

The witch looked up at her boyfriend and shrugged, "We were having a nice morning. You aren't the only person I haven't spent enough time with."

"I believe the two of you just agreed to see each other tomorrow, so you will have plenty of time together then." Emily nodded and allowed herself to be led over to where Cedric's friends were calling to him.

"We need to get seats, the team is waiting!"

The group made their way into the stands and Emily felt a tad uncomfortable being with all the Hufflepuffs. She kept getting odd looks and some glares from the older girls. The witch was well aware her boyfriend was considered the most attractive in his House and with his family lineage there was a lot to be gained from dating him should it turn into more, especially if you were a muggleborn and Hufflepuff had the majority on muggleborns in the school.

"Did you see Cho?" Felix said pointing down to the field where the captains were shaking hands. "She's growing nicely."

Cedric coughed awkwardly as he put his arm around Emily and pulled her into his side.

"Well if he won't look I can," Liam answered nudging the other boy. "I hear she's a lot of fun. She was going out with a Gryff for a while but she's single again."

"Her family is well off and far away, could be a good combination."

"Especially if the rumors are true…"

"Ced, what do you think? Are they true?" Felix's eyes showed amusement as his friend glared back at him.

"Rumors?" Emily asked looking over at the pair.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Cedric answered turning away from his friends. "Just watch the game."

"AND THE TEAMS TAKE TO THE SKIES! RIDING A FIREBOLT IS GRYFFINDORS OWN HARRY POTTER, THE BROOM IS SAID TO BE WHAT ALL THE NATIONAL TEAMS WILL BE FLYING AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP THIS COMING SUMMER! THE FIREBOLT IS THE FASTEST BROOM ON THE MARKET AND EVEN HAS A BUILT IN AUTO BRAKING SYSTEM -"

"Mr. Jordan there is a match beginning if you could commentate on that and not the quality of the brooms it would be appreciated."

"Of course Professor – CURRENTLY KATIE BELL HAS THE QUAFFLE AND IS HEADING FOR THE GOAL. CHANG IS KEEPING A CLOSE TAIL ON POTTER BUT SHE IS NO MATCH FOR HIS NEW BROOM."

Everyone watched as Chang followed Harry around the stadium, at one-point Harry made to dive but was thrown off course by a bludger that narrowly missed his shoulder. You could hear the disappointment from the Gryffindors in the stands. It wasn't long though before Harry was back hovering over the game ever watchful and his team's chasers were earning points with ease.

"AND THAT TAKES GRYFFINDORS LEAD TO EIGHTY WHILE RAVENCLAW HAS YET TO SCORE. ITS NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR THEM TODAY – WITH THE LIONS CHASERS ON FIRE AND HARRY ON THE FIREBOLT THEY CANT KEEP UP – CHANG IS FLYING A COMET WHICH IS A DECENT BROOM BUT I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT THE PERFORMANCE FROM THE FIREBOLT TODAY IS EXCEPTIONAL – JUST LOOK AT THE PRECISION AND BALANCE AS –"

"Jordan, back on topic please, we are trying to watch the match!"

"RIGHT YOU ARE MINNIE!

"JORDAN!"

"AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT FOLKS – CHANG CAN'T KEEP UP SO SHE IS INTENTIONALLY TRYING TO BLOCK HARRY FROM MAKING A MOVE – OH WOOD DOESN'T SEEM HAPPY ABOUT THAT – KNOCK HER FROM HER BROOM MATE – QUIDDITCH IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN YOU CAN ASK HER OUT AFTER YOU WIN"

"Honestly Jordan, do you want a detention?"

"HARRY IS DIVING AND CHANG IS RACING AFTER HIM – WAIT A MINUTE HE TRICKED HER! LOOK AT THE WAY THE FIREBOLT PULLS OUT OF THE DIVE WITH EASE – CHANG ISN'T SO LUCKY SHE CAN'T CORRECT HERSELF – IT LOOKS LIKE POTTER HAS ACTUALLY SEEN THE SNITCH HE'S OFF – BUT WHAT IS THAT?!"

Emily turned her attention and from the Slytherin side of the stadium she could just make out tall black figures. She leaned into Cedric but the overwhelming feelings and weakness never came. Instead a shot of jealously ran through her as her brother pointed his wand in the direction and shot off an odd silvery shape that raced towards the figures before he continued his pursuit of the snitch.

As the whistle blew it was clear Gryffindor had won. Cedric urged Emily to get up and follow him as everyone began to exit the stands. Following him, the pair made their way from the stands to the front of the castle where there were a few carriages waiting. Emily watched as some seventh years she recognized slipped into one of them and it took off towards the gates.

"Where are they going?"

"Hogsmeade."

"I don't remember this weekend being on the list."

"It's not, some of the upper years get privileges to go to the village more frequently." Cedric led the witch towards the carriages, "And I cleared it with Professor Sprout for us to go as well."

"What are we going to do in the village?"

"I thought we could wander around and then have dinner at the Three Broomsticks, a little date night if you will."

"Sounds lovely," Emily smiled at her thoughtful boyfriend. It would be nice to get out of the castle for the evening especially since Severus didn't need her help tonight. No one even took a second glance or questioned the pair as they climbed into one of the awaiting carriages and made their way into the village.

Hogsmeade as usual had a dusting of snow on the ground and the pair enjoyed wandering around the village. Everything looked so beautiful tucked away in the mountainside and it was a rather peaceful time, Emily couldn't remember the last time her and Cedric felt so at ease. Perhaps they should make a point to get away from the castle more often, she couldn't have been helping matters if she was as grumpy due to her lessons as Draco seemed to think she was.

Dinner was a quiet affair. The two students enjoyed their meals and discussed their current studies. Cedric seemed rather interested in whether Emily had progressed much with the Patronus after her brother's display earlier but had quickly changed the topic when he noticed her mood sour slightly. Overall it was a nice evening and when Emily climbed into the carriage to head back to the castle she couldn't help but sigh.

"Is something wrong?"

The witch shook her head and rested it against her boyfriend's shoulder, "No quite the opposite really."

"So, you're happy then?" he leaned down and kissed her forehead as she nodded in agreement.

"I wish we didn't have to go back to the castle though, it's nice to get out and spend time together like this."

"Tonight doesn't have to be over." Emily looked up at her other half curiously, unsure of what he meant. It was late, of course it was going to be over, when the carriage stopped she would have to return to her dorms and he to his. "You could stay with me tonight."

"In the Hufflepuff dorms?"

"That's where I sleep."

"Wouldn't I get in trouble for going in there, not to mention most people in your House hate me."

Cedric seemed amused by the statement as he shook his head, "They're scared of you."

"Not much difference."

"No one will say anything, I have a private room."

"I thought the Puffs slept in shared rooms like the Lions."

"Once we reach fifth year we get our own rooms, just like the Claws. It's to help us have more quiet when studying for our OWLs and NEWTs."

"I see."

Nothing was said further on the topic as the pair finished their ride back to school. It was rather quiet and Emily had a million questions running through her mind about the possibilities of going back with Cedric to his dorm. Since Yule they had not had a chance to repeat the activities with clear heads. There were only so many places you could go to hideaway in Hogwarts and while Emily probably could have showed the Room of Requirement to her boyfriend, something had held her back.

When the carriage came to a stop, Cedric helped the witch down and escorted her back into the Entrance Hall. The pair hesitated as the Hufflepuff waited for his girlfriend to decide what she wanted to do, "It's up to you."

Emily nodded and thought about how Draco was probably waiting for her. Then again maybe he was having a good night and wouldn't notice her absence again. Emily looked back towards the staircase that led to the dungeons and knew she was kidding herself, of course her best friend would notice and she would have to answer for where she had been. Shaking her head she looked apologetically towards her boyfriend. "I'm sorry but if I don't go back to the dorms Severus will find out and if he tells Lucius I'll be in more trouble than just for breaking school rules."

"Understandable, like I said before, it's your choice."

Though the words were kind the witch could tell Cedric was anything but okay with her decision. "Thank you," she responded pecking her boyfriend's lip. "Sleep well."

"You too," his smile was stiff again and the boy quickly turned and walked off not waiting for Emily to disappear down her own staircase.

Deciding it was pointless to stand in the Entrance Hall alone, Emily made her way back down to the Slytherin dorms and said hello to the last remaining upper year students who sat chatting by the fire. She weighed in on the magical theory they were debating for a few minutes before politely excusing herself to go to bed. When she got to Draco's room she found her best friend was already fast asleep. Quickly getting herself ready for bed, she crawled in next to the boy who turned on his back slightly waking due to the disturbance.

"There you are," his arm wrapped around Emily pulling her tight into his chest.

"Cedric took me to Hogsmeade, we lost track of time after dinner."

"I had started to think you weren't coming back tonight."

"I almost didn't."

"I see," Draco gave Emily a squeeze clearly hearing the strain in her voice. It obviously hadn't been an easy choice for her and the wizard doubted Mr. Hufflepuff was very happy with her decision. "I'm glad you came back, father sent you a letter while you were gone."

"What does it say?"

"I don't know I didn't open it." When the witch made to move Draco held her tighter to his body, "You can read it in the morning. If it had been important Sev would have tracked you down."

Nodding her agreement into her friend's chest, Emily yawned before whispering, "Goodnight Dray."

"Night Em."


	43. Surprise Visit

**Surprise Visit**

Emily jumped as a pounding on the door startled her. Draco for his part grumbled and tried to pull his friend back down but the sound didn't cease. Rolling her eyes at her best friend Emily shook him until he reluctantly sat up.

"Merlin, I'm trying to sleep!"

"Someone's at the door."

The sound came again and this time it was accompanied by a voice, "Little snake, you need to get up or I'm going to have to take the door down."

Recognizing Marcus' voice, the witch climbed out of bed and was quickly followed by Draco as she opened the door.

"Good you're up," Marcus smiled at the pair but Emily could tell the boy was slightly worried. He was dressed in silk pajamas that had his family crest on the chest and his hair was disheveled from obviously having just gotten out of bed himself. "I wasn't sure if I could take this door down, with my luck you've warded it."

"We haven't but perhaps that would be a good idea," Draco grumbled trying to run his hands through his hair to tame it.

"Did you need something?" Emily asked struggling not to yawn in the older boy's face.

"You are to go to Professor Snape's quarters and remain there until further notice. Draco, you will be joining me in keeping guard over the Slytherin common room while the teachers search the castle. Sirius Black was sighted in the Gryffindor common room a short while ago."

"Is everyone okay?" Emily's thoughts moved to her brother and wondered if the man from their past was truly trying to find them.

"No one was hurt, I don't have many details other than that I'm afraid."

"Shouldn't I be going with Em?" Draco was already moving to his dresser and pulling out a black pair of silk pajamas that looked a lot like Marcus' to change into.

"No, Professor Snape didn't want me worrying too many people. They'll all know in the morning but he said it would be wiser to let everyone sleep and to have you stay up with me to ensure no one tries to leave or enter the House."

"And who is going to make sure Em gets to his quarters safely?"

"I think I'm more than capable to help." A new figure stepped into view from the darkness of the hallway and Emily couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face at the new addition.

"Bill."

"You snakes are a rather fancy bunch, single rooms and green chandeliers all over the place."

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked ignoring the man's previous statement.

"I was staying at the manor since I had been working on your broom, which is fine by the way its in Severus' quarters waiting for you, when Lucius received the news. He asked me to come over and check the wards while he smooths things over with the goblins. Shall we?" He held out his hand and Emily took it instantly. With a nod to the other boys present she followed Bill quietly from the Slytherin dorms.

Once in the hallway Emily found herself looking up at her companion in disbelief, "I can't believe you're here."

The smile that crossed Bill's face had warmth growing in the witch's stomach, "Of course I came. Lucius has filled me in, to some extent, about what they suspect but it doesn't hurt to make sure you have a little extra protection."

"How long will you be here?"

"A day or two, just long enough to ensure the wards on the castle have not been weakened. It's been a headache with the goblins lately, they really are excited about this tomb but as far as I can see its just like most of the other ones we've already found, though I will admit a touch larger and with some deadlier curses than I've seen in a while."

"Perhaps the deadly aspect is what draws them, goblins love battles and a gruesome end." Bill laughed as the pair walked up to the portrait protecting Severus' quarters. Having gotten bored with learning Severus' ever-changing password Emily hissed " _Open…"_

Instantly the portrait swung open allowing the pair entry. Bill didn't even react to the use of Parseltongue having heard the witch converse with her snake when he had visited the manor over the summer.

"Who truly knows, I'll be happy when the job is over."

Emily looked curiously at the man as the pair settled in by the fire. Isis barely noticed the pair, hissing a hello to her mistress before contenting herself back on her cushion by the fire. "How can you be looking forward to it being over, won't there just be another tomb to explore?"

"Things are going to be changing for me come the summer."

"How so?"

"I've been selected to be on the team working on the protections at the World Cup stadium this summer and there has been talk of perhaps something closer to home becoming available."

"But wouldn't you miss Egypt? I thought you liked where you were at?" Emily couldn't imagine wanting to return to a normal life after hearing some of Bill's stories. To her, exploring the world and seeing all the different ways magic could be put to use was a fascinating idea. She hoped one day she would get to go to the many places she read about in her books.

"I love my job, but I think a change of pace would be nice. It won't be forever, I don't think I could stay put for too long, having known what it's like working, as I have, on the tombs but its something I need right now. I can barely get a day off at the moment and it will be good to have more down time to do things I like."

Emily shrugged, "As long as you visit me I'm okay with it."

"Thank you for your stamp of approval."

"You're welcome." Emily pulled the blanket off the back of the chair she was in and wrapped it around herself. She could see where Bill was coming from and if he needed some down time who was she to really question it. Yawning Emily turned her head to look at the flames and for a moment she thought she saw a face but it was gone so quickly she was certain her mind was playing tricks on her.

"If you need to sleep you can use the guest room, I'm fine on the couch."

Shaking her head the witch stifled another yawn, though she was tired she didn't get to spend much time with the Curse Breaker. "I'm fine."

"You're scrunched up on the chair."

"So?"

"At least take the couch if you don't want to use the guest room."

"But then you'd be on the chair and we can't have you all bent out of shape if you have to work on the wards tomorrow."

"Who says I'd take the chair, if you don't want the bed there's nothing that says I can't take it."

Emily laughed, "You would never."

"Why not?"

"You're a Gryffindor, you're far too chivalrous for that."

"Technically I'm not a Gryffindor anymore."

Emily shrugged, "Perhaps not, but do you really want to deal with Severus when he comes back to find you've left me unattended in a room where I could easily slip out to search the dungeons."

"You wouldn't."

"Are you sure?"

"I could set wards."

"This room responds to me, whose to say I can't break them using Parseltongue?"

Bill hesitated, clearly unsure how the limited wards he would be allowed to erect within the walls of Hogwarts would manage against Emily's ability to speak to snakes. It was well rumored throughout the school that Salazar Slytherin had used the dungeon as his domain and that his ancestors had been able to have some limited control over the existing wards. Emily did have unlimited access to Severus' quarters due to her ability but was that enough proof that she was telling the truth.

Deciding not to test his luck and be met by a displeased Severus, Bill conceded, "Fine, if you want to stay curled in the chair who am I to argue with you."

As the wizard moved to get more comfortable Emily smiled, "So what do you plan to do with your free time once you're back home, are you going to live with your family?"

"Perhaps, but I would rather not. I was speaking to Lucius about it earlier and he said there is a townhouse the Malfoy's own inside of London that I could use for the summer which is a very generous offer. I just don't know how my family would react if they were to find out."

"Shouldn't they be pleased for you, well besides the fact that a _Malfoy_ is helping you? You are accomplishing a lot, especially as their heir."

"They don't see it that way, my family would be far happier if I was already settled down and raising a family in a house close to them, working for the ministry in some fashion."

"But they never set up a betrothal?"

Will shook his head as he reached for the cup of tea that was being poured for him by a house elf that had just popped into the room.

"Are yous comfortables?"

"Very much so," Emily answered the elf with a smile. "You didn't have to bring us anything."

"Master Snapey says I need to bring yous some tea to make sure yous is comfy and goes to bed."

"Did he ask you to spike this?" Emily questioned, pausing with her tea cup a few centimeters from her mouth. Bill started to inspect his cup with a slightly worried look having already taken a sip himself.

The elf quickly shook his head, "No mistress, hes no asking mes to use a potion."

Knowing the elf couldn't lie to her she nodded her head and took a sip and sighed as the warm liquid flowed down into her stomach. She preferred coffee but she would accept the tea. "Thank you Norbey." As the elf bowed and popped out of the room, her attention turned back to Bill and she raised an eyebrow, "So why, if they would like you to be married did they never set up a betrothal?"

"Betrothal contracts are one of the traditional things my family seems to despise. They feel we need to integrate more with muggleborns and being new to the wizarding world, muggleborns don't commonly practice arranged marriage."

"But aren't your family purebloods, shouldn't they want you to rise up in society? Marrying a muggleborn won't help your standing."

"I think my family gave up caring about their standing in society decades ago. Its also not likely for me to marry upwards at this point. I'll likely have to settle if I marry at all."

"You wouldn't want to marry?" For some reason this thought bothered Emily and her stomach did odd twists.

"I don't know really, but even if I did find someone would their family want a poor pureblood as a spouse for their daughter?"

Emily shook her head, "You're intelligent, a Curse Breaker and you make decent money, I would think you would be a good husband, if nothing else life would be exciting."

Bill smiled but the witch could tell he didn't believe her, "I think you have a very different definition of exciting than most." Shrugging Emily set down her cup and moved to stand. "Where are you going?"

"I've decided I'm tired and want some sleep."

"Oh, so now you'll take the bed?"

"You could join me."

Bill seemed to pause a bit stunned at the idea before shaking his head and moving himself to stretch out on the couch. "I think I better sleep here, like you said, we don't want to upset Severus."

"Are you certain? I would sleep better if you were close."

"I'll be right here."

Nodding Emily accepted his refusal and though there was an odd feeling of disappointment running through her she made her way into the guest room and climbed into bed. Before closing the door, she called for Isis to join her, the snake grumbled a bit at being awoken once again before curling up on the mattress with the witch. Waving her hand absentmindedly Emily closed her eyes, it took her awhile to get comfortable but eventually she drifted off to sleep.

0o0oo0oo0o0

In the lounge Bill found it hard to sleep and had taken the spot Emily had vacated. From the chair he could watch the entrance and most importantly the guest room. Something inside of him wanted to kick himself for not agreeing to follow the young witch but he had to remind himself once again that Emily was just that, a young witch. He often forgot when they spoke that she was just in her third year of Hogwarts. Looking at Emily it wasn't hard to see why Lucius was worried about her future. At the manor the Malfoy Lord explained that families were already coming forward interested in courting the young heiress. She was beautiful, wealthy and clearly powerful.

Bill doubted he would ever have such chances finding someone quite like the witch who slept in the other room. He was older and had no title to offer a future bride and despite his family's beliefs, he wanted someone who practiced more traditional values which meant his selection was narrowed if not already completely closed due to contracts and marriage.

The door to the quarters opened and Severus quickly moved towards the guest room and opened the door.

"She's sleeping."

"I can see that," the man responded before he disappeared into the room. He reappeared shortly and moved to stand next to the fire. Looking around he waved his wand and the once cold tea warmed and poured itself into the remaining unused cup. "Did she seem upset at all when you retrieved her?"

"She was fine, I think my being there distracted her."

Severus nodded before looking into the fire, "Good."

"Did you find him?"

"No, Black vanished long before any of us with an ounce of ability to track him could show up. The protections around Potter will be strengthened but it still doesn't sit right."

"You don't think Harry was his target, you think he's after something else."

Severus nodded, "If he wanted the boy dead, he would have been dead. The man is skilled, annoying but skilled. Dumbledore's thoughts are along the same line but there isn't much we can prove right now without capturing him and feeding him veritaserum."

"I could try and see if I could weave in a detection layer into the wards tomorrow if we had a little blood or something of his."

"No, the only person who likely has access to such things would be Emily and she won't be allowed to enter and claim them for just over another year." The man finished his tea and set his cup on the mantel, "Lucius has been able to secure you for another day to inspect the wards but the goblins are insisting you return after that to finish your dig."

Bill nodded in understanding as the man exited the room. Once again he was left in silence as he stared at the door which separated him from the witch. Sighing he stood up and moved back to the couch deciding he at least needed to try to get a little sleep since morning was not long off.

0o0oo0oo0o0

When Emily woke the next day it was to find Severus's quarters empty. Looking around she realized her robes had been laid out and breakfast was waiting for her at the small table in the corner of the lounge. Sitting down she enjoyed her coffee and picked at her fruit. She had slept rather poorly and she couldn't decide the cause, one thing she did know was that she was happy to see Bill last night and she hoped she could see him again before he left.

As Emily made her way through the halls to her first class she noticed the few people still in the hallways seemed to be anxious. They whispered and huddled together as they walked quickly in their desired directions. She swore she heard a Gryffindor mention that there were trolls guarding their House now but that seemed a bit extreme to the witch.

The witch's first lesson that morning went well but she could feel the other students staring at her. Annoyed because it hadn't even been her House that was broken into, the witch left the class irritated with her best friend trailing right after her.

"They are only staring because of who broke in, Em everyone has heard the tales."

"And they're all wondering if the reason he went after Harry and not me is because I'm dark."

"If you listen to Uncle Sev's theory he didn't go after your brother at all," Draco countered putting his hand on his friends back and escorting her into a passageway so they wouldn't be overheard.

"You've talked to Sev."

"Yeah he came and spoke to Marcus and I before sending us back to bed. Not that I was able to sleep much." Looking at her friend Emily could tell he wasn't lying. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair, while combed was not in its usual slicked back style. "He thinks Black is after something that isn't you or your brother."

"Does he know what he's looking for?"

Shaking his head the blonde ran a hand through his hair. "No."

Sighing Emily twirled her wand in her hand as she listened to the people outside of the passageway noisily heading to their next class. "I don't want to finish lessons today, I think I'm going to try and find Bill."

"I'll come with you."

"No, go to class and make up some excuse for me." Draco looked as if he was hesitating but nodded his head clearly understanding the girl's need for a little space.

The pair parted and Emily quickly made her way onto the grounds. It didn't take her long until she found a tired yet fascinated Bill Weasley working on the wards down towards the edge of the forbidden forest. "I thought the forest was inside of the wards."

Shocked Bill turned around and smiled as Emily approached and took a seat not far from him on the grass, "It is, but we're trying to weave another layer at the edge to try and keep everything separated. There's already a notification ward for when someone crosses into the forest or back onto the school grounds."

"Can it identify who is going into the woods?" Emily asked thinking about her trips into the forest the past two years.

"Not that I can tell… why?"

The witch just smiled at her friend before lying back onto the grass. "So does this mean, even if a unicorn wanted to, it will be stuck in the forest?"

"Unfortunately, yes, but from what I remember most of the creatures tend to keep to themselves anyway. It will be just until the end of the year and Hagrid gave me some of his blood so I'm tying him into the ward that way he can pass the barrier."

"Ooo, blood wards. Look at you breaking Ministry rules," Emily teased, her laughter was met by Bill's.

"What they don't know doesn't hurt them, plus I'm pretty sure the founders used blood rituals to make the wards as strong as they are. I could spend years studying them and still not know enough about how they came to be."

"Have you found any weaknesses?"

"No which makes it all the more confusing how Black is getting inside the wards and then back out…" Bill turned and walked over to sit next to where Emily was lying on the grass.

"Perhaps he knows something you don't."

"Ha, ha, from what I know about him, he was a strong dueler and was one of the bravest fighters in the last war. He well may have some insight into wards but I doubt he would have enough to break through Hogwarts' wards with everything I have seen of them today."

"Hmm, how big of a blood ritual do you think they needed to perform to create the wards?" Emily asked changing the topic.

"I don't know, like I said I just don't have enough time to study them as I would like. Speaking of studying though, shouldn't you be in class?"

Emily shrugged and pulled the man down so he was lying next to her. "People wouldn't stop whispering and staring today. Usually I can just ignore them but lately everything has been seeming like its all a bit too much."

"It's third year and you're Emily Potter, your life is anything but quiet from what I've observed. I have never known anyone else to walk in so calmly to a professor's office, covered in blood, after fighting a Basilisk..."

"Do you know many people who have faced Basilisks?" Emily questioned smiling as she turned her head to look at her companion.

"No, which is kind of my point."

"I know, I just think its more than the extra classes. I've been working with Sev to learn the Patronus Charm…"

"That's quite the task."

"It's not like I'm getting very far with it. All I can create is this silver mist, but it never takes the shape of a protector. I feel like everywhere I turn this year people want me to deal with my emotions, if it's not facing your fears to clear a closet of a boggart, it's a dementor you are supposed to fight with memories of love. I'm not the best when it comes to emotions, my childhood wasn't the greatest or at least that's what Sev tries to remind me. He says its not my fault but I don't know, maybe I am as dead inside as they say."

"I wouldn't say that, I've seen you with the Malfoys and how you act when we get to see each other. You aren't as dead inside as you think, you're just selective in who you trust." Bill reached out and grabbed Emily's hand giving it a squeeze. "Emotions are never going to be an easy topic, especially while you're still in school. Most adults struggle with them, why else do you think so few people can actually perform a corporeal Patronus?"

Exhaling Emily rolled so that her head was laying on Bill's chest. The man seemed to freeze slightly before relaxing and wrapping his arm around her. The pair laid on the grass in peace until they heard the crunching of leaves disturbing their silence. Emily slowly sat up and turned to see Hagrid approaching the pair.

"Bill, Professor Dumbledore asked me ter get yeh. He says the goblins be wantin' yeh back soon."

"Thanks Hagrid, let him know I'll head up to his office shortly." The giant smiled and waived at the pair as he turned back towards his hut. "I guess that means it's time for me to head back. We can walk up to the castle together since it should be dinner time soon."

The two were rather quiet as they made their way up the lawn. Emily was rather sad she would have to say goodbye to Bill once again but she was hopeful with him being back in the country for the summer that she would get to see more of him. There was a comfort when she was around the Curse Breaker that was so hard for her to find around anyone who wasn't Draco.

When they were inside the Entrance Hall the pair both froze and seemed unwilling to want to start their goodbyes. Finally Bill pulled the witch tightly into his chest before kissing her forehead. "I'll see you over the summer holiday and I'll write you once I'm settled back in. If you keep feeling frustrated by everything just write me, I could tell something was off but I thought it was just the demand of adding on more classes."

"I will," though Emily doubted she would want to burden him with her continued frustrations, it was nice to know she could.

"Good, I'll see you soon." Emily raised an eyebrow at the man who smiled and shook his head, "Soonish…"

Laughing Emily gave him one last hug, "Sounds good. May the goddess watch over you."

"And may the God who has arisen from darkness bring you light."

Emily made her way back into the dungeons and with Severus' permission she remained there for the next day. She was feeling slightly drained and she couldn't bring herself to want to spend the day around the other students even if it would only make their whispering worse when she reemerged from the dungeons.

It was two days after the break-in, when Draco escorted Emily to the Great Hall for breakfast and reluctantly left her with her boyfriend.

"I've been worried about you, Professor Snape said you were feeling unwell."

Emily nodded taking a sip of her coffee, "Yeah, I just really needed some rest. I think I may have over done it lately with all my extra studies."

"I mentioned that to Professor Snape."

"You did?" Emily looked up at her boyfriend who seemed too preoccupied with adding some bacon to his plate to look at her.

"Yes, we discussed it but he said he would not cut down your lessons. He seems to think it's good for you but I barely get to see you and when I do, you seem to have a million other things on your mind."

"I see."

"I really think it would be for the best if you cut back a bit. With the dementors closer in to the school Black should be caught soon, I heard there was a Curse Breaker here checking on the wards even."

Anger started to rise inside of her and Emily was saved from making a scene by Longbottom who was struggling to climb over the bench at his table. The room started laughing as someone yelled "He's got a Howler!"

His housemates urged him to run but the poor boy was frozen in fear as the room watched him. A nudge from someone behind him seemed to be what the lion needed as he held the letter far in front of him and darted towards the doors. Just as he was about to reach them the letter exploded and a shrill voice filled the room "NEVILLE FRANK ARTHUR LONGBOTTOM, HOW DARE YOU BRING SHAME UPON OUR FAMILY! THE LONGBOTTOMS HAVE NEVER BEEN…"

Emily took the moment to stand and with a quick goodbye to her distracted boyfriend she slipped out the side teacher's entrance. It wasn't long before her best friend was by her side, "Can you imagine? Thank goodness father would never dream of sending a Howler to us."

"No he would just show up and summon us to Sev's quarters where we would have to sit through his angry tirade in person."

"At lease it would be in private and not in front of the whole school. I heard he lost his privileges to go to Hogsmeade for the rest of the year."

"Why?"

"I guess he couldn't keep remembering the changing passwords and asked the portrait what they were going to be. He lost the paper he had written them on, which is what Black used to get into Gryffindor Tower."

The witch shook her head, normally she wouldn't feel bad for the boy but she knew from Fred and George that getting into their dorm had been a hassle since the last time Black had broken into the castle. "He really has some bad luck."

"Outside of Herbology, the Gryff is a nightmare. I think his issues go beyond bad luck but don't tell Daphne I said that."

"Why not?"

"They're cousins and she seems to think its everyone else who is to blame."

"At some point he is going to have to grow a backbone or at least find some way to boost his confidence. I mean it's surprising the boy is in Gryffindor, the way he ran this morning from a letter... though he seemed competent enough at Yule. Either way, something has to change and I doubt it will be the people around him."

"Again, I wouldn't mention it to Daphne, but I agree."


	44. First

**44**

 ***warning: there is a lemon at the end of this chapter***

"Miss Potter, can I have a word?"

Turning Emily noticed Professor Lupin was coming down the stairs into the Entrance Hall and looking right at her. Having just gotten back from Hogsmeade Cedric was still by her side and the witch could feel Draco come up behind her. She looked oddly at the professor who up until this point had seemed determined to keep his distance from her.

"It will only be for a moment," he offered, clearly sensing her hesitancy. "Then you can go back to spending the evening with your friends."

"Go ahead, I'll wait by the stairs," Cedric offered slightly pushing her towards the teacher.

"There's no need, I'll wait for her," Draco cut in. "I can make sure she gets back to the dungeons."

There was a tense stance between the boys and Emily wasn't certain why it mattered who waited for her, she was more curious as to why the professor wanted to speak to her. Deciding she better hurry up as people were starting to stare at the small group, she turned to her boyfriend and put her hand on his chest. "Ced, Draco's right, he can wait for me. Weren't you supposed to meet with your team anyway?"

The boy nodded and looked over at Professor Lupin before turning back to his girlfriend, "I'll see you in the morning at breakfast."

"Of course," with a quick peck on the lips the boy took off rather quickly towards his dorm.

"I won't bother her for long," Lupin informed Draco, motioning for Emily to follow him outside. The pair walked over to the side of the courtyard and both looked out over the grounds from the stone arches that protected them. "I suppose this seems odd, me requesting to speak to you."

Emily didn't answer, nor did she look in the man's direction. If he was just some random professor she might have found it odd that he requested to speak with her but in fact what she found off, was that he hadn't requested it sooner. This man was supposed to have been close to her parents and had even spent his time teaching Harry private lessons but he had yet to approach her.

"Maybe Severus or the Malfoys told you, but I was a friend of your parents', particularly your father." When Emily didn't react the man kept going, "I figure this is a bit late in the year but to my own detriment you'll have to excuse my wariness. I was not prepared to come and find you and your brother on such different paths."

"Different?" the witch questioned still looking out over the grounds.

The man coughed awkwardly as he shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the stone, "I guess I always imagined the two of you being close and growing up together as Gryffindors like your parents did. It was a bit of a shock to join the staff and discover that you two seem very distant. Not to mention your affiliation with Slytherin and the Malfoys."

"And are you to warn me off them?"

The man quickly shook his head, "No, I've spoken to Dumbledore and he speaks very highly of your association with the Malfoys and your accomplishments. It's clear that having them has been of benefit to you. It was merely a mistake born out of old prejudices from my time here."

"I see."

The man smirked as he continued to watch the young witch who refused to return his gaze, "I doubt it. There are things that complicate my views on the world." Emily nodded understanding exactly what he meant but she was not about to offer that information up. "I have experienced a lot in my lifetime and holding onto prejudices is something I should know by now not to do."

Turning to look at the man for the first time Emily could see the sadness in his eyes. He looked lost in thought but all Emily wanted to do was get back inside, the conversation was going nowhere and if this was his way of apologizing it seemed a sorry excuse, "What do you want Professor?"

Lupin sighed as he took in the girl before him, "I wanted to ask you to be careful. Severus has assured the staff you can defend yourself but I have gotten to know your brother this year and he has a tendency to get into mischief, much like your father did. In fact, I just had to confiscate a rare parchment from him, of which I have no idea how he obtained it…" Lupin seemed curious but the witch had no idea what her brother had gotten into this time and merely shrugged. Acknowledging the girl clearly was unaware of what he was speaking about he continued back to his previous line of discussion. "You see, I knew Sirius Black well, he was one of the most cunning and talented wizards in our school. The spells he could cast and the magic he wielded was very strong, it was common for people to sometimes fear him or at the very least no one wanted to be his enemy, so I'm asking that you be careful. With him having been in the castle twice I worry for you and your brother."

"He seems more focused on Harry at the moment."

"That he does, but never the less you should be cautious." The witch looked unimpressed by his warning, looking back onto the grounds the man realized his words were falling on deaf ears. It was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. "You are quite close to Mr. Diggory."

"We're dating."

"So I've heard, your brother hasn't seemed to show the same interest yet. I had thought perhaps he and Miss Granger might be together but as of late they've had a falling out." Emily merely nodded not taking her eyes off the smoke she could see in the distance coming from Hagrid's hut. "How are your lessons going?"

"Well. I see no need to complain."

"Are you sure? You've seemed tired lately in my classes, I know you are working with Severus outside of school but you've already added so much more on your plate this year."

"Harry is working with you, is he not?"

"Yes, your brother and I have been working together but I have urged him to not over do it. From what I understand you and Severus are working together far more frequently then I meet with your brother. I made your brother cut back on lessons because he was wearing himself thin by trying to squeeze in his lessons with me and Quidditch on top of all his school work."

"Professor Snape would never do anything if he thought I couldn't handle it."

"I'm not saying he would, I'm merely making an observation and asking you to think about it."

"May I go?"

Lupin looked a bit disappointed but nodded his head in agreement. Emily made her way back into the castle and was instantly greeted by Draco and Severus. Emily took Draco's arm and the pair followed the older man down into the dungeons before stepping off to a side corridor very few people knew about.

"What did Lupin want?"

"To warn me about Sirius Black and to say he thinks I look worn out due to our lessons. He thinks I'm doing too much."

Severus' eyes narrowed as he examined the girl, "Are you taking on too much?"

"No, I'm fine. I would be better if people would stop asking me that or trying to tell me what they think I can handle, I'm perfectly capable of making those decisions myself."

"I expect you to be honest with me and come to me should you need to."

"I always do."

"Good, now both of you should head back to the dorms, I have a few things I need to get done to prepare for the week. Emily, I will see you later in my private lab, I think its time you did a full step for the potion on your own."

"You will really stand back and just watch?" the girl questioned. Severus was an amazing teacher but with how complex the potion was he had not yet let her prepare everything for a new stage of brewing by herself yet.

"I think you are perfectly capable of doing this step on your own. Now off with the two of you."

Emily smiled as Draco led her back towards the dorms.

 **0o0oo0oo0o0**

Emily's confidence was starting to grow again, Severus was allowing her more freedom to prep the Wolfsbane potion on her own. He had even stepped out of the lab a few times to work on other things, proving how assured he was in her abilities.

Lupin, for his part, had not approached her again and her boyfriend Cedric seemed disappointed that she was still attending nightly lessons with the Potion Master. "I really don't see why you can't take a few nights off. Didn't Professor Lupin tell you he thought you seemed a bit worn out?"

"It's not for him to decide. Ced, I'm doing really well at the project we are working on."

"A project you won't even tell me about."

"I can't, it's a complicated potion and if I told you what it was then I would be breaking Severus' trust in me."

"What about my trust? What about us?"

"What about us?" Emily looked curiously at her other half. "I spend most of my free time with you. The only times I'm not with you are when I'm in lessons or you have practice. I'm barely able to see Draco and he's my best friend!"

Cedric looked as if he wanted to respond but something had clearly caught his attention off in the distance. Following his lead Emily looked over to the stairs leading down to the paddock where CoMC was usually held. Her brother and his friends seemed to be arguing with Theo but it was Granger who surprised her. She pushed past Harry and swung her fist, hitting Theo squarely on the nose. The group looked stunned at each other before Granger's hand pulled back again like she was going to hit the boy for a second time. Weasley was quicker than her and grabbed her from behind urging Harry with his head to move quickly. It wasn't long before the trio had vanished and Crabbe and Goyle were left staring at their leader unsure of what to do. Emily sighed, "I better go help him so Madam Pomfrey can get him fixed before his next class, unless you are any good at healing spells?"

Cedric shook his head, "I'm not wonderful with bones, if he broke something I might make it worse."

Emily nodded and turned to her boyfriend, the pair had a moment of awkwardness. Clearly, they were not going to get to finish their discussion. Finally Cedric leaned down and gave her a peck, "Go."

Nodding she hurried up the path and instructed Crabbe and Goyle to head to their next class. "We just have divination but it's a bit later," Theo mumbled.

"Fine then you two head back to the common room, I'll get him up to the Hospital Wing." The pair nodded and vanished down the tunnel that led to the dungeons leaving Emily alone with Theo.

The two Slytherins walked silently up towards the hospital wing as the boy tried to halt the bleeding as best he could. "You should tilt your head back a bit."

The boy looked at Emily slightly annoyed as he motioned at the stairs beneath them. Sighing Emily moved to guide him, "I'll help you, just try it."

Theo did as instructed and the witch lead the pair successfully to the Hospital Wing. As they entered, Madam Pomfrey came rushing out from her office and immediately took over for Emily, leading Theo over to one of the beds. "How did this happen?"

"Granger punched him."

The woman stopped what she was doing for a moment and looked over in disbelief, "That doesn't sound like her."

"I know but I saw the whole thing. Theo was at the top of the stairs that lead down to the paddock for Care of Magical Creatures, I don't know what was said but it wasn't very much and then Granger just snapped."

"I see, well I will have to inform Minerva about this event. Is there anything else you would like to add to this story Mr. Nott?"

With a quick episkey there was a sharp snapping sound as Theo's nose fixed itself and the blood stopped. Madam Promfrey vanished the blood and gave the boy a towel and bowl of water to finish cleaning himself up. "No Madam, but Granger has seemed a bit unhinged lately. We were just talking about how boring Care has gotten. We weren't attacking the Gryffindors at all."

Emily nodded at the boys statement, the muggleborn had been looking more and more disheveled as the year went on and CoMC had become so boring even she had taken to skipping the class on days that Cedric had a free period.

"Perhaps I have more to discuss with Minerva then. You are free to go when you feel ready. Thank you for bringing him up here, bones are rather complicated business. Your brother's disaster last year should be lesson enough of that."

Emily smiled at the witch and turned back to Theo, "Ready to head back down?"

"I need to get to the library to pick up a book before divination."

"Do you really need extra material for that class?"

"It's not for divination, I mostly just make up answers about seeing death omens and she gives me an O. Its actually a Charms book Professor Flitwick put on hold for me."

"I didn't realize you liked Charms so much."

Theo smile and shook his head, "I'm not Emily Potter at magic but I'm decent enough. If you tell anyone I said that…" Emily raised an eyebrow at the boy before her, who just shook his head again. "Thank you for helping me."

"Snakes stick together, have a good afternoon Theo."

"You too."

 **0o0oo0oo0o0**

The Easter holidays were rather busier than they had been in the past two years for Emily. The teachers had assigned far more homework than she had ever seen and the entire House was abuzz with anticipation over the upcoming match between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Everyone in the castle, outside of Slytherin, was hoping for the Lions to win and take the Quidditch Cup. The Slytherins had dominated both the House and Quidditch Cups ever since Charlie Weasley had left the school and it seemed they were ready for that to change.

Things had even turned violent in the halls, people had even come to physically fighting a few times which was something most Slytherins saw as a rather muggle tactic. Needless to say, even Madam Pomfrey couldn't wait for the game to be over.

The mayhem was absurd and Emily desperately wished it was over. "I'm going to start hexing people if they don't start moving out of the way. We are going to be late."

"Its your brother's bodyguards, you'll only make it worse." Draco appeared bored as he leaned against the wall calmly waiting for the large group to pass.

"Bodyguards? Why on earth does he needs bodyguards?"

"Because us evil snakes may pop up and take him out of the running so he can't play on Saturday if they aren't careful."

"Wouldn't the smart thing to do, be to catch him when he is alone late at night and on the Friday before the match so he doesn't have time to heal? Harming him on a Tuesday does nothing, Pomfrey would have him fixed by game time."

"I know that and you know that but try explaining that to a Gryff." Draco examined the crowd and sighed. "Want to just skive off? We can go down by the lake and study, it's not like Binns is going to notice we are gone."

"Please."

 **0o0oo0oo0o0**

"I'm using your broom," Draco announced as he fixed his hair in the mirror.

"I figured." Emily didn't much feel like getting out of bed yet and was reading while Draco got ready to head down to the Slytherin locker room.

"You'll be watching?"

"Yes, I told you I'm going to be with Daphne. Even Cedric agreed it wouldn't be the best idea for a Slytherin to sit among the Puffs right now. They've had a few trips to the Hospital Wing this week as well."

"Everyone is against us." Draco fussed with an odd hair that seemed to refuse to stay in place.

"Aren't they always, at least you'll have my broom, you'll be on equal footing with Harry."

"And everyone is going to be angrier for it."

"Is it really worth stressing over?"

"I just want to prove that I belong on this team."

Emily closed her book and sent it floating back to its spot on Draco's desk. "Clearly you're better than most, you've beat all the other seekers, even Cedric."

Draco smirked as he remembered catching the snitch before the witch's boyfriend. "That was a good day."

Rolling her eyes Emily pretended not to care as she continued, "Slytherin is 200 points up in the standings, it's obvious you belong. You just want to beat my brother."

"You have to beat the best, to be the best."

"Just go meet the team, you'll be amazing as always." Draco rolled his eyes at his best friend but moved to give her a hug. "They're serving you breakfast in the locker room right? You guys need to eat before you play."

"Yes mum," Draco quickly ducked the pillow that was thrown at him as he grabbed the Firebolt and left the room.

Emily eventually dragged herself from bed and met up with Daphne to head down to the pitch. The pair were quick to get to the stands, both giving off an air of indifference as they passed other students, neither one fancied a duel before the game. Taking their seats among the mass of green, Emily waved to Severus who had apparently passed on the teachers' section to sit with his House.

It wasn't long before Dean could be heard announcing the players for each team as they took the field. Emily had expected more booing as the Slytherins came flying onto the pitch but instead the other Houses were rather quiet.

"Word is they all thought Flint would make massive changes to the team," Daphne told the other witch, as they both applauded for their team.

"What kind of changes?" Emily was surprised she hadn't heard of this before, usually due to Cedric she knew all the gossip surrounding the Quidditch teams whether she wanted to or not.

"People thought he would go for size over talent, since he has some back ups who are rather large, in order to try and muscle Harry off his broom."

Emily rolled her eyes at the idiocy, Marcus was smarter than people gave him credit for, there was no way he would compromise a chance at a win to have the small potential at injuring Harry. In all likelihood only Draco would be able to catch him anyway, brutes on brooms or not.

"AS THEY TAKE TO THE AIR IT APPEARS THE SLYTHERIN SEEKER HAS GOTTEN HIMSELF A FIREBOLT."

Most of the crowd booed as they realized that Harry no longer had the advantage of riding the fastest broom. The game was going to be close and it made them very nervous.

"HAVING A RICH FATHER MUST BE NICE."

"JORDAN!"

"WHAT?! I'M SERIOUS."

"Isn't your dad well off?"

"YEAH BUT HE DIDN'T BUY ME A FIREBOLT."

"JORDAN, THE GAME IS BEGINNING!"

"ALL RIGHT MINNIE, AND SO GRYFFINDOR HAS POSSESION OF THE QUAFFLE. SPINNET IS GETTING CLOSE… ARGH, WHAT A NASTY INTERCEPTION BY WARRINGTON. SPINNET SEEMS TO BE RECOVERING OKAY BUT IT ISN'T LOOKING LIKE SHE CAN REPAY THE FAVOR. – OH MAN LOOK AT THAT BLUDGER WORK BY GEORGE WEASLEY… IS THAT GEORGE, IT COULD BE FRED. I CAN'T REALLY TELL FROM HERE. MATE WHICH ONE ARE YOU?!"

"MR. JORDAN THE GAME PLEASE!"

"RIGHT, SORRY MATES. JOHNSON NOW HAS THE QUAFFLE THANKS TO ONE OF THE WEASLEY TWINS AND SHE SCORES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"

The game started to get nasty from that point on and all Emily could do as she watched was shake her head. Each team tried to find different ways to injure the other, which resulted in multiple penalty shots. The game was evenly matched and that suited the Slytherins just fine. Even if Harry was to catch the snitch they wouldn't be able to gain the 201 points they needed to win the Quidditch cup for the year.

Harry and Draco seemed to be hovering just above everyone else and while both were looking for the snitch it was clear by Harry's movements that he wanted to delay anyone ending the game too quickly. If Draco moved, Harry was quick to try and cut in front of him.

"He needs to get free of Harry," Emily said as she watched her brother swing in front of the Slytherin seeker again.

"He will, I think he's just testing him. But he really needs to find the snitch soon and end this thing, they just called another penalty shot in favor of the Lions."

Daphne was right Gryffindor was starting to back off on their aggression towards the Slytherins and Emily wondered if that had been the plan all along. They had gotten the Slytherins riled up and now the Snakes were the only ones getting the penalty calls against them. The points were starting to add up in the Gryffs' favor. When they were sixty points up you could almost cut the tension with a knife. Everyone in the stadium were holding their breath unsure of who would win, this gave the Gryffindors the opportunity to pull out the win.

Suddenly both Draco and Harry went into dives and Emily grabbed Daphne's hand. Her nerves were getting the better of her. The entire stadium was silent as they rose to their feet and watched. The two seekers were neck and neck. Suddenly there was a howl that seemed to echo through the stadium and then both seekers were tumbling from their brooms. As they rolled, no one knew if either had caught the snitch. Harry's arm went to cover his face and in that instant Emily knew Draco had been successful, the blonde's face broke into a smile and the whistle blew. The Slytherins exploded in applause as the rest of the school looked on in disappointment.

Emily along with the other Slytherins rushed onto the field as the cup was passed around the team. Draco spun Emily in a circle the second they found each other in the madness. "I did it!"

"You were brilliant. I was nervous at the end there," Emily said enjoying seeing her best friend smile.

"I think it had to do with the howl." Emily looked puzzled as she waited for Draco to finish his thought as he nodded in thanks as another person congratulated him on his catch. "When your brother heard the howl he seemed to hesitate and looked away for a second, it was the opening I needed. I was able to bump him off to the side and in turn I was able to reach the snitch first, granted we both ended up on the ground, but I DID IT!"

"I'm so proud of you!" and Emily was, though she wondered why a howl would have caused her brother to hesitate. Shaking her head she stepped aside so Daphne could have a turn. "Great flying out there Marcus!"

The Slytherin captain turned and smiled widely at the third-year witch. "It feels even better since this is my last year! Are you going to be celebrating with us tonight or do you have to go placate Diggory?"

"She'll be at the party," Draco answered for her. "Mr. Hufflepuff can sulk on his own."

"I quite agree," Severus added joining in the mayhem. "That was a brilliant game, well played."

"Thank you, Professor! It was an honor to do this one last time for our House, but the praise really goes to our little Snake over here and his quick grab."

"And don't forget my broom!"

The group laughed as Marcus nodded in agreement to Emily's statement. Severus merely smirked as he nodded towards the group, "I need to get back up to the castle, but I have ordered the House Elves to prepare a small feast in the common room. Please don't completely destroy the place."

"Wouldn't dream of it!"

"Good," with that Severus turned and vanished off through the crowd.

The night turned into a bit of a blur for the witch. Wine and Butterbeer flowed freely, there was an abundance of food and the music was so loud Emily wondered if Severus could hear it in his own quarters. Draco had been monopolized by people wanting him to go over the moments of catching the snitch and questions about what it was like to fly on a Firebolt. Emily found herself curled into a couch next to Marcus with a drink in hand. The burly seventh year had kept a protective arm around her all night ensuring the other boys stayed clear of her.

"Perhaps we should get you to bed," Marcus said as the room slowly started to clear. Emily merely nodded in her tipsy haze and took one last sip before setting her glass down. The pair made their way slowly towards Draco's room but when they got there it was clear the room wasn't empty. The door slightly rattled as someone was likely pushed up against it.

Marcus looked down at the witch who was clearly shocked at the development. "You can stay with me tonight if you want?"

"What about Olivia?" Olivia was betrothed to Marcus and Emily didn't want to get on the girl's bad side.

"She's all the way in France, who is going to tell her that I let a friend stay with me for one night?"

Emily shrugged and followed Marcus down to the seventh-year hall. If he wasn't worried about offending the other witch, she wouldn't be either. When they got to the boy's room he moved to his dresser and grabbed a large shirt that he passed over to the witch. Not really caring that the older boy was standing there, Emily started changing until the only things she was wearing were the t-shirt and her panties.

Turning around she found Marcus was already in bed and patting the space next to him. Emily crawled into the bed and snuggled right up to the older boy. He was clearly just in his boxers and as her hand ran over his chest she found he was rather more muscular than she had originally thought. Her leg came over his settling in the space between his legs. He seemed to try and adjust himself, "Careful little Snake."

Emily couldn't help but giggle at the phrase, her mind slightly clouded by the alcohol, "Doesn't feel so little." Marcus looked down at the witch with a shocked impression. Smiling back Emily looked the picture of innocence, "What?"

The boy shook his head and moved to look up at the ceiling, "You have no idea do you." Emily's hand trailed down Marcus' chest and started running her fingers over the skin by the band of his boxer briefs. The boy groaned and a trill of excitement ran down Emily's spine. Feeling more confident her hand slid over the top of his underwear and felt the hardening bulge. His hand came over hers and stopped her motions. "Emily."

"Marcus," she called back, her body pushing into his on instinct, that earned another groan from the boy. Within seconds she was pushed onto her back and he hovered over her, his arms keeping his body from touching hers.

"You are drunk," the boy lowered himself to brush his lips against the girl's before attempting to lie back down but Emily reached up and stopped him. He allowed himself to be pulled down and rested gently on top of her, waiting for her to make the next move. Reaching up Emily gently nibbled at his lower lip with her teeth before letting go and kissing him. He gave into the kiss and allowed himself to settle fully on the girl beneath him. Pushing up her hips, Emily could feel his hard length and she couldn't help the small moan that it caused.

Marcus pulled away again, "We need to stop."

Emily looked confused, "Why?"

"What about Diggory?"

Emily paused and her mind was flooded of images of her boyfriend, though for some reason she couldn't bring herself to care. The witch had never felt this completely comfortable with her other half, especially recently. Shaking her head she looked in the boy's eyes, "What about Olivia?"

"She's in France."

"He's in Hufflepuff."

That earned a laugh from the wizard, "Yes but I think your binds to him are a bit stronger." The boy sat back on his legs.

"We aren't betrothed."

"But he wants to be. It's different for Olivia and I, we barely know each other. I see her for a few days each summer and next year after she graduates, we will be married. It's not like we've built a relationship or that she's under the delusion that I'm faithful to the contract our families signed." The words ' _he wants to be'_ were the only words resonating in Emily's mind. Something in her face must of worried the older boy because he was quick to lean back down once again hovering over the girl. "It's okay, Em." The boy kissed her forehead and moved to lie down next to her.

"No, it's not," even though she wasn't really grasping things, there was a pit in her stomach as she imaged a contract laid before her and Cedric standing by her side handing her a quill.

"We don't have to tell Diggory, Merlin knows he'd be upset if he knew how much you had been drinking tonight anyway."

Emily practically scoffed at that, hadn't Cedric been the one constantly ensuring she had a glass of champagne in hand at Yule? He didn't get to decide how she spent her time with her friends and if she was going to have a few drinks at her House's party she would. "No." Marcus looked confusedly over at the girl who looked straight back at him. This time she sat up and swung her leg over his body so she was now straddling him. Leaning down she kissed the boy again.

"Em…"

"Please Marcus." Her words hung in the air, the boy desperately searching her eyes for something. Whatever he was looking for he must have found because with a small nod he leaned up and recaptured her lips. Rolling them over he only broke the kiss to remove her shirt. She felt his hand come up to cup her small breasts and she arched her body into him. He groaned in response as he trailed his kisses down her neck and moved down her body to suck on her nipple. As his tongue swirled she had an ach growing and without thinking her hand tangled in the boys hair and gave him a slight push down. This earned her a smile as he started kissing his way further down. When he reached her panties Emily felt his nose brush against her before his fingers were pulling down her panties. As his tongue licked her lower lips the witch couldn't help as her legs tightened on his head. He chuckled and the vibration was amazing, Emily held tightly onto Marcus' hair but he didn't seem to mind as he began to work her up. She was so close but before she could completely let go the boy made his way back up her body.

Removing his boxer briefs he positioned himself at her dripping entrance and there was an anticipation from Emily as she felt him start to press into her. There was a sharp pain and Emily had a quick intake of breath. Marcus looked down at her in slight surprise but stopped moving completely, leaning down he pecked her lips allowing her a moment to adjust. When she started wriggling underneath him the wizard took that as a sign that it was okay to move again. He started off slow but quickened his pace, Emily held onto the wizard tightly as she was built back up. Emily didn't know how long it took but she felt one of his hands go between them and start rubbing her, as her body started to shake he came and collapsed on top of her.

Rolling off of her the large boy pulled the smaller witch into him and kissed the side of her head. "Go to sleep Little Snake, I have you."


	45. Trelawny's Prediction

**45**

The next morning Emily woke up with a slight headache. Finding herself still wrapped up in Marcus' bed she sat up and looked around the room. It was the standard Slytherin dorm, though he had put up several pictures of friends and family, that waved as her eyes passed over them. The Quidditch captain had his broom leaning in the corner by his desk and a banner declaring 'Puddlemere United' his favorite team just above it.

"There's hangover potion in the nightstand if you need it." Emily looked down at the boy who was rubbing his eyes as he reached out with his other hand to rub her back. "Did you sleep okay?"

The witch nodded and smiled, "I did, thank you for…"

"Don't mention it Little Snake." Marcus looked incredibly tired as his hand that was rubbing his eyes moved to rest above his head. "I'm not very exciting on the Sunday after Quidditch ends but you are welcome to stay and lay here for a bit if you want."

"I should probably go find Draco, if he gets up before me to find I'm not with him, he'll have gone straight to my room."

"And if he doesn't find you there, he'll think you snuck out to find Diggory," Marcus correctly assumed.

"Protective best friends, you know."

Marcus smiled and shook his head slightly, "He cares for you, is that so bad?"

"It would be nice if he and my boyfriend could get along. They seemed okay at first but after Yule, everything changed." Leaning back against the headboard Emily ran her hands over her face, she felt Marcus' hand continue to rub circles in a soothing manner on her lower back.

"That's because Diggory did change, or at least got bolder. I can't say I knew him that well, other than on the field before you started dating him..."

Emily looked down at the boy, "What do you mean?"

"Do you not see the way most of the guys in the castle look at you? He's made it clear you belong to him, people won't approach you because despite being a Puff, Diggory is a rather intimidating guy."

The witch rolled her eyes, "Come off it, people won't come near me because I'm the evil Potter twin. I'm out to kill all the muggleborns and support a pureblood agenda. I'm a parselmouth, who rules over her snakes from the Chamber of Secrets."

"While I would never want to be on the other side of your wand, its not fear of you that's keeping other blokes from approaching you. People don't want to find themselves in the hospital wing because they dared to say hello." Emily scoffed at the boy. "I'm serious, Emily you may not realize this, but you are the most eligible witch in this school. You are beautiful, you are of the House of Potter, that alone comes with wealth and a title. You are powerful, well connected and you are currently not bound by a betrothal contract. Not to mention the rumors that the Black line is to pass through you and your brother since their last heir was sent to Azkaban. Has Lucius not talked to you about any of this?"

"A little bit, I mean mostly we go over etiquette and they have been helping me learn the old ways but there's not much that can be done till I'm 15. As far as I know my only guardians were my muggle relatives and I haven't seen them since they dropped Harry and I off at the train station before first year."

"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk to him about it. Technically there has to be a magical guardian assigned to you, maybe he can find out who that is."

Nodding Emily sighed, "I should get going. Draco is definitely awake by now."

"You could wait a little longer, it might be amusing to see if he tries to find you in the Hufflepuff dorm."

"Not if Cedric finds out, that might open questions I don't know if I want to answer."

"Fair enough Little Snake, I think I may try to get some more rest. I've been practicing so much, that between Quidditch and my NEWTs I'm exhausted."

"Sounds good." Smiling Emily leaned down and pecked the boy's lips, "Sleep well, and thank you."

"I'm always around. Even after I'm gone, I'll just be an owl away."

Laughing Emily summoned the boy's shirt to her and threw it on, "I'm stealing this and your hangover potion."

"Go right ahead."

Standing the witch found herself a bit sore and in addition to the hangover potion she grabbed a vile of pain relief potion that she found in the drawer as well. Downing the pair quickly she tossed the empty containers in a bowl with several others. She heard the older boy chuckle as she slipped out of his room and quickly made her way to the boys third-year hallway.

Finding Draco's room, she was about to open the door when a disheveled looking Blaise did it for her. The Italian wizard gave her a small bow in greeting before heading down the hall to his own room.

"Knock, knock." Emily said as she walked into the room to find her best friend already getting dressed.

"I was just about to go find you."

"No need," the girl answered shutting the door behind her and moving to grab a clean pair of panties from her stash of clothes in Draco's dresser before throwing herself on her friend's bed. Draco for his part hadn't moved and was watching her carefully.

"Where have you been? Whose shirt is that?"

"Why did I just see a certain Italian leaving your room?" she countered.

"Blaise stayed the night." Emily raised an eyebrow at her friend, "Nothing serious, we just snogged a bit and then passed out. I woke up and thought he was you, that was a bit awkward. When I realized you weren't here, I told him he had to go because I had to track you down, I shouldn't have abandoned you last night."

"You didn't need to kick him out on my account and I get it, you caught the snitch, you beat Harry Potter! Go Snakes!"

Shaking his head the blonde moved to the corner of the bed and leaned against the post, "He shouldn't have been here in the first place, he's betrothed. It was a lapse of judgement from the excitement and alcohol."

"Makes two of us I guess," it was Draco's turn to look suspiciously at his friend. "I don't regret it though and maybe that makes me a bad person." Emily sighed, clearly her best friend felt bad about his dalliance, but she truly felt no remorse even though, unlike Draco, she was actually in a relationship. Nothing had been made official between him and Daphne as of yet. "Dray?"

"Yes…"

"Does Cedric want to propose a betrothal contract?"

"Who told you that?"

"No stalling, I want an honest answer."

The boy hesitated but nodded his head yes, "They approached Father at Yule, but without you having a set magical guardian all talks have to wait until you turn 15 and can legally sign the documents for yourself."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"To be honest I thought Mr. Hufflepuff had told you about his intentions. Father said he planned to speak with you this summer about everything, but there were a few things he wanted to look into first. It's not just the Diggorys that are interested in courting you though, multiple families have approached Father."

"Marcus said something similar," Emily stared at the ceiling wondering how blind she must have been. She felt ridiculous for not noticing sooner but there was also an ounce of anger geared toward Cedric for not telling her he had wanted to draft a contract.

"When were you speaking to Marcus?"

"Does Cedric scare other people away from me?"

"Honestly?" Emily nodded her head as she propped herself up to look at her friend. "There have been a few people who've had mysterious accidents that have been rumored to have an interest in you. Nothing really crazy but bad enough that they would think twice before coming near you."

The witch let herself fall back on the bed again and sighed. She had no idea what she was going to do with all this new information. She should be flattered that her boyfriend wanted to spend forever with her and was willing to protect their relationship yet something wasn't sitting right with her, not to mention what she had allowed to happen the night before. Maybe she was as heartless as she was rumored to be.

Draco cleared his throat grabbing Emily's attention, "Are you going to explain where this came from? Or better yet whose shirt you're wearing?"

"It's Marcus'."

"I see."

"I slept with him last night."

Draco nodded a small smirk on his face, "Well I'm glad you were able to find a surrogate for me. I was worried when I woke up that I was going to have to go looking for you by the Hufflepuff common room."

"No, Dray, I _slept_ with him last night."

Slowly realization struck and the boy moved to sit on the bed, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I was completely willing. If anything I kind of pushed him, he was trying to be sensible but I don't know, it felt right or at least I think it did."

"Do you like Marcus, you know…"

"He's betrothed, yes I'm aware and no I don't feel _that_ way about him. It was a one time thing."

"I see."

"Is it bad that I'm happy it wasn't Cedric?"

Lying down next to his friend, Draco took Emily's hand, "Is it bad that I'm happy it wasn't either?" That comment earned a laugh and the pair smiled at each other. "Are you going to break up with Mr. Hufflepuff?"

"I don't know."

"Fair enough."

"Dray?"

"Yeah?"

"Your shirt is on backwards."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Anytime," she rolled into her best friend's chest, a smile on her face.

 **0o0oo0oo0o0**

The castle seemed sullen the days following the Quidditch final. The hope of having Slytherin knocked to second place was lost and people were not quick to recover. Slytherin House however functioned as it usually did come the end of term, people were busy revising for their finals and of course there were a few who couldn't help but clap whenever they saw Draco congratulating him on his win. But the Slytherins seemed to be the only ones in reasonable spirits.

Even Hagrid had seemed more down than usual but with her time preoccupied and various sanctions still being enforced due to Sirius Black being on the loose, she hadn't had time to catch up with the giant. Emily had been stuck attending CoMC though, Cedric was busy studying and the pair hadn't seen too much of each other since the Quidditch final and Emily couldn't help but think that maybe it was for the better.

"They just can't, Hagrid!" Weasley said loudly as Granger and Harry attempted to quiet him. "I read!"

"That's a first," Theo mumbled grabbing another piece of lettuce to feed to his flobberworm. The boy had taken to sitting by Emily and Draco in their shared classes and the pair had to admit the boy was a rather decent wizard when he shut his mouth and put his mind to a task.

"How are we back to these creatures," Draco sighed. "I really am sorry about this."

"You can stop apologizing now, the year is almost out anyway. Soon we will never have to take this class again."

"Speak for yourself, part of my Father's business is based on the study of magical creatures. I'm stuck taking this class through my NEWTs." Emily and Draco both cringed in sympathy for Theo as he poked his flobberworm, "I think it's dead." Picking it up he passed it to the witch, "Put it in a potion, better use of it then it just lying out here to rot."

Shrugging Emily accepted the animal and took the excuse to quickly leave the paddock in search of a jar to store it in.

 **0o0oo0oo0o0**

"How are your exams going?" Cedric asked as he read his Defense book in preparation for his next final.

"As good as one can expect," Emily answered, the girl was lying on her back by the lake, her mind focused on her Ancient Runes exam as she practiced drawing runes in the air with her wand.

The boy nodded, "I'm guessing you'll be first in your year again."

Shrugging Emily looked at her boyfriend, "I don't see why not. What about you?" The pair had never discussed his standings much but from what she had gathered over the week was that he was usually in the top two of his year.

"Cedric?" a new voice called out interrupting the Hufflepuff from answering. Sitting up the witch realized that Cho Chang the Ravenclaw seeker was heading in their direction. "Cedric, I've been looking for you. I was hoping…"

The girl stopped as she got closer probably realizing the boy wasn't alone. Emily watched as his eyes narrowed, he looked annoyed at the intrusion. Cedric reached out for the witch, his arm holding her extremely tight as if his grip on her was stopping him from reaching for his wand. "I haven't seen Felix," he responded tightly.

The girl looked confused at Cedric's statement before she quickly nodded her head in agreement, "Oh right, yes, thank you. I just thought maybe you knew where he was."

The boy shook his head and turned to kiss Emily's forehead before his attention was back on his Defense book. Cho didn't move, her eyes were looking between the pair sat before her. Emily finally caught her eye and she noticed the older girl blush, "Did you need something else?"

"No, thank you, I'll just go try and find Felix."

As the seeker walked away Emily wriggled a bit to loosen Cedric's hold, "What was that about?" When the boy just made a sound of question but didn't look up at her she nudged him. "Ced?"

"Surely you remember Liam and Felix talking about her at the game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw."

"I remember."

"Well Felix decided to find out if the rumors are true."

"What rumors?"

"It's no big deal Em, they are just messing around."

"You don't seem to like her very much."

"I don't."

The witch couldn't help but feel there was something her boyfriend wasn't telling her but she didn't push. After a few minutes of them sitting quietly while Cedric read he flipped his book shut and made to stand gathering his things. "I need to go find Liam before class, do you want me to walk you back up to the castle?"

"I'm fine here, I'll head in shortly."

Nodding Cedric leaned down and pecked Emily's lips before heading off towards the castle. Emily sighed as she laid back down on the grass and stared up at the sky, partially glad her boyfriend had left. Pulling out her wand she started back at her Runes practice.

 **0o0oo0oo0o0**

On Thursday Emily and Draco were walking through the halls having just cleaned themselves up after their Defense final when they ran into Cornelius Fudge. He was wiping the sweat from his brow with a hanky as two men headed out onto the grounds. One was rather withered looking while the other was tall and kept twirling his mustache.

"Good day Minister," Draco greeted.

"Draco! It's so good to see you my boy, why I just saw your father this morning before I came over. Nasty business everything today, but I guess it comes with the job." The man patted his brow again and attempted to smiled at the pair. "Miss Potter, it is a pleasure as always."

The man took the girl's offered hand and kissed it in greeting, "Likewise Minister."

"Oh, you two can both call me Cornelius."

"Then you must call me Emily."

"I will my dear! Now I best be off, I need to check in with the Auror in Hogsmeade before I head down to witness the execution."

"Execution?" Emily questioned.

"Oh yes, I'm afraid it has been decided that there is a mad hippogriff that must be put down. In fact, the very one that injured young Draco here. I can't apologize enough that action wasn't taken sooner but you know how Dumbledore can be with pushing for second chances."

"Of course, I trust in you and our ministry to do what is right."

"Good, good. Well, I must be off."

"Have a good day Cornelius."

"You two as well."

With a small bow to the teens the man took off in the direction of the grounds.

"They are killing Buckbeak?" Emily asked Draco as the pair headed towards the kitchens which was their original destination.

"Father said it couldn't be helped. Once Edmond had heard of what happened he was on a rampage, anything to discredit Dumbledore or get that 'giant oaf' fired."

"How did I not know about this?"

"You've been really busy this year between Mr. Hufflepuff and all your work with Sev, its not like this is a big deal."

Emily nodded in agreement, "Remember tonight is the last night I meet with Sev."

"Are you excited?"

"I'm mostly just curious to see how it turns out, I did a lot of the brewing on my own this time."

"Uncle Sev wouldn't serve it to him if you hadn't done it correctly."

Emily wasn't sure about that, it was clear to her that the Potion Master had a strong distaste for the werewolf and she wouldn't put it past him to have had the thought of poisoning the man cross his mind a time or two.

As the pair entered the kitchen it was to the usual chaos, though waiting off to the side was Professor Trelawny. She didn't seem to notice the two Slytherins and swayed slowly back and forth as she hummed a tune to herself. Draco requested a basket to be put together and the pair stood next to the waiting Divination Professor. At some point her head fell forward and Emily thought the woman might have fallen asleep standing up.

" _IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."_

Emily looked over to Draco and together the confused pair stared at the Professor whose head was now turned towards the younger witch her eyes completely blank. "Professor Trelawny, are you okay?"

Draco touched Emily's arm and shook his head. "I think she's actually in a trance, she can't hear you."

" _THE DARK LORD HAS LIED IN WAIT. ALONE AND FRIENDLESS HE HAS FAUGHT TO SURVIVE. TWELVE YEARS HE HAS WAITED, TWELVES YEARS HIS SERVANT HAS HOPED TO ESCAPE. TONIGHT THE SERVANT SHALL BE FREED TO AID HIS MASTER, THE RESSURECTION EVER CLOSER, THE FEAR AND TERROR EVER GREATER THAN BEFORE. RUN… RUN… RUN… HE WILL SOON RETURN. TONIGHT BEFORE MIDNIGHT HE SHALL ESACPE, BY NEXT WEEKS DAWN THEY SHALL BE REUNITED."_

Professor Trelawny started to collapse but Draco was quick enough to catch the woman before she hit the floor. She started coughingand shaking her head before she looked up at the two students. "Oh thank you dear, I must have drifted off again… I seem to be doing that quite a lot today."

Draco helped the older witch to sit on the floor as Emily asked, "Professor, what do you know about the Dark Lord and his servants?"

The woman looked strangely at the girl and titled her head, "Not much dear. Just about what everyone else does I suppose."

"But you just mentioned him and his servant."

"Did I? Your brother said something similar just a few minutes ago. He was my last exam of the day… I drifted off during his final and I think we both might have been a bit tired after all the tests this week, he was my last exam of the day you know."

"Yes, you just mentioned that."

"Oh… well what were we discussing?"

"The Dark Lord and his servant."

"You know your brother just said something similar to me."

"Yous basket is ready Misters Malfoy." A small elf's voice could be heard from behind the large basket it was holding up as an offering.

"Thank you Kippy," Draco took the basket from the small elf who nodded with a blush and ran off back into the depth of the kitchens. Nodding in the direction of the door with his head the boy offered his free arm to Emily. "Have a good day Professor."

"You too dears!"

As the kitchen door started to close they could hear the woman and resumed her humming. "Draco, what…"

"Not here. Let's get back to Uncle Sev's quarters."

The two moved as quickly as they could through the halls when they were confronted by Cedric and his approaching friends. "There you are! I have been looking everywhere for you!"

The boy pulled Emily away from Draco and gave her a long kiss. "You've been looking for me? I thought you had one final left."

"We finished about an hour ago, the guys and I are on our way to the kitchens to request some food in celebration."

"That's what we were doing as well," Draco announced holding up the basket in his hand. "We would invite you to join but we have to meet Professor Snape."

Cedric looked like he was about to protest so Emily was quick to intervene, "Tonight is my last night working on the project but I'm all yours tomorrow."

"Good," the boy kissed the witch again and gave her a small squeeze as his friends were quick to join him and the group took off laughing towards the kitchens.

"You need to sort that out," Draco offered holding out his arm once again.

"One headache at a time, please."

"Yes, but that is a headache I've been dealing with for months."

"Not now Dray."

"Fine, but by summer."

Emily shook her head as Draco led her further into the dungeons, hissing the word ' _Open'_ when they reached Severus' quarters. The place was empty, not that they were surprised, Severus was supposed to be holding the fourth-year exams for another hour.

The pair settled into the couch and Draco started serving up the food from the basket. The elves had put together a lovely meal of turkey, roast potatoes and green beans. He poured them both a glass of butterbeer and the pair tucked in, silence filled the room, both not completely sure about what had just happened.

Sighing as she finished, Emily put her plate on the coffee table before tucking her feet underneath her and getting more comfortable on the couch. "Why do weird things have to happen to me?"

"Sounds like it happened to your brother as well."

"Is that known to happen? Can someone really give the same prophecy twice?"

"I don't know, I'm more shocked she gave a prophecy at all."

"Prophecy?" A smooth deep voice questioned as the entrance to the room closed.

Looking over at Severus, Emily shrugged, "We don't really know."

"We think it was a prophecy, the signs were all there."

Severus looked between the two teens, "Explain."

"Em and I wanted to spend our night together celebrating the end of finals and decided to nip down to the kitchens to grab a basket so we wouldn't need to go to dinner tonight. Professor Trelawny was in the Kitchens too and at first we thought nothing of it, she just stood there humming to herself but then it was like she fell asleep and before we knew it she was staring at Em… though not staring, if that makes sense? She had this blank look to her and her eyes…"

Emily nodded in agreement, "It was eerie feeling. Then she started talking about the Dark Lord."

The teens could see Severus go stiff, it was obvious he did not want to over react and worry the pair but his tension was clear. "What did she say?"

"She said the servant will escape before midnight tonight and will be reunited with his master."

Draco reached out and took the witch's hand, "She also mentioned that the Dark will rise again and his reign will be more terrifying than before."

"Can you show me?" At Draco's nod Severus moved around the couch to kneel in front of his godson. Draco took a deep breath to relax himself as he showed his memory of the event to the Potions Master. Once satisfied with what he saw Severus retreated from the boy's mind and stood, walking over to the fireplace. "What you saw was a prophecy, what I'm curious about is whether what she told your brother varies any from what she told you."

"I don't know."

"Maybe we could try going to dinner and you could approach him?" Draco offered.

"I could try but his friends won't let me be near him alone, especially not if they know what he has heard. They don't trust me."

"Granger seems nice enough to you, maybe she could hold back Weasley."

"I doubt it, smiling at me and trusting me are two different things."

"They're Gryffs, not Ravenclaws."

"It's fine," Severus intervened. "I agree he isn't likely to tell you and it may be that he only knows what we know. Right now, the most important thing is that Emily, you remain by my side at all times tonight."

"But don't you have to take the Wolfsbane to Lupin, if I'm with you he'll know I'm aware of his condition."

"Let him know and while he's at it he can thank you for brewing it for him."

Draco smirked, "That will go over well."

"If nothing else it proves to him that you are more than capable and there was no need to worry about you in the first place. Draco, you may stay here with us but we can't take you along to drop off the potion. I need to notify Dumbledore, you two are not to leave this room."

At nods from the two teens Severus moved towards his bedroom. "Um… Uncle Sev, the door is that way."

"Yes, but I also have a fireplace in here that I can make a call from."

Draco nodded and tried to play off his mistake, but Emily couldn't hold back her smirk. "Oh shut up."


	46. The Servant

**46**

When Severus returned from his call to the Headmaster he informed the teens that Dumbledore had promised Hagrid he would remain with him for Buckbeak's execution. He advised no one to panic as the prophecy didn't say the servant would escape from anywhere near Hogwarts but he agreed with Severus' plan to keep the young witch close. As for Harry, Dumbledore had advised that he would send Professor McGonagall to check on him through the evening. With so little information being divulged in the prophecy the hope was that it was more of a warning of what was to come than of something that could be intervened by any one at the school.

"It would be nice if we could stop it though," Emily sighed as she ladled the last of the Wolfsbane potion into the large goblet.

"I know, but sometimes fate takes those choices away from us." Severus tapped the now empty cauldron with his wand and it levitated over to the large sink where it could be scrubbed down later after a magical clean. Severus was insistent on using both magical and muggle ways to ensure the cleanest cauldrons possible when brewing.

"So, we just wait."

"He was always going to come back, he's somehow tied himself to this earth and I doubt he can truly be defeated in his current state."

"Will I be expected to fight him?"

"Yes."

"And Harry?"

"Will probably have to fight harder than you. It is not my belief that the Dark Lord has ever had any intention to kill you like he does your brother. All we can do right now is ensure you are prepared."

Emily nodded in understanding, now was not the time to worry. This prophecy was, at the very least, a warning that her world would soon change. Looking down at the slightly smoking mug she was reminded of the task at hand, "Where are we taking this?"

"We'll take it to the shrieking shack. That's were he has been transforming since he went to school here."

"Is it actually as cursed as they say it is then?"

"No, its mostly heavily warded and the rumored screaming is just on the full moon."

Emily shook her head, "Has he been coming here once a month, even before he took the position for Defense?"

Severus nodded his head as he motioned the girl to follow him from the lab. "Though this is the first year it has been requested I prepare the potion for him."

"Why not ask sooner, if he was here?"

"I'm sure the Headmaster has offered my services before, but he's always turned it down. The potion was part of his contract, either he accepted it or he would have to decline the job. Lupin has had a hard time finding a job since the last war and he really needed this position, he had no option but to agree."

"Why, being a werewolf he only needs to ask for a day or two off a month for his transition. Surely a magical employer would understand."

"The only magicals who accept werewolves, are those who associate with the darker side of things and Lupin has always put the morals of the light above everything else. He won't take a job in Knockturn Alley even though it's the only place that would welcome him in London."

"So, what does he do then?"

"He mostly takes random jobs in the muggle world, feigning some chronic illness to excuse himself for his transformations. You will find that transformations become more difficult on the werewolf the older they are and the longer they are infected, without the wolfsbane I bet there are times when he needs a full week to recover."

"Is there no way for werewolves to get the potion?"

"There are a few apothecaries that provide the potion but it comes at a high cost and all of them are run by people who Lupin would never agree to do business with."

"Then why hate him so much? If you know he's living this hard life, is he not suffering enough?"

Severus smirked, "Does one suffer more greatly because I have a distaste for them?"

"I doubt it helps."

"Lupin has the ability to help himself, his sorrows are often of his own design whether he realizes that or not is another matter. He has opportunities but sees himself above them, unwilling to see that perhaps not all people who dabble in the dark are out to end the light."

"I see."

"Aren't you two supposed to get that potion to him soon or are we going to have to lock down the school because there's a loose werewolf on the prowl?" Draco interjected staring at the pair who were conversing in the living area now.

"We are heading out now, you may stay here if you like or go to the dorms. It will take us some time to get back as Lupin should already be at the location for his change."

"I'll wait here, just be careful."

The pair walked quietly through the halls careful not to discuss the topic further incase they were overheard. When they reached the grounds, they started walking in a direction Emily wasn't used to going. "Shouldn't we be going towards Hogsmeade?"

"There's an entrance on the grounds."

Before Emily could ask where the entrance was, they saw a worried looking Lupin sprinting towards the Whomping Willow. With a wave of his wand he seemed to dive for the trunk and shortly after vanishing from sight the tree seemed to shake back into life.

"Is he always that nervous?"

"No, he usually waits for me and we go through together to ensure all the wards are set. Be cautious as we proceed, do everything I say and do not hesitate to use your wand if needed."

Emily nodded and dropped slightly behind Severus as she followed him towards the tree until she almost tripped over something. "Sev." Reaching down the air shimmered slightly and she could feel magic radiating as she picked up the invisible item. "I think this is my father's invisibility cloak. Harry has had it since first year…"

With a quick motion of his wand the tree froze, "Bring it with us, I want you to put it on once we get into the tunnel."

Agreeing, the pair moved forward quickly and slipped down into the gap of the roots. Emily did as instructed and put the invisibility cloak over herself holding tightly onto the goblet that held the Wolfsbane. As they exited the tunnel, the young witch followed the Potion Master up a set of rickety old steps. The noise they created was likely drowned out by the yelling that could be heard coming from above them. Severus tucked himself into a corner by the open doorway unseen to the occupants of the room. Emily for her part stood in the doorway taking in the scene, hidden from view by the cloak she was wearing.

"…I saw you leave Hagrid's hut, but you were accompanied by someone new." Lupin stood blocking the three teens from a dark and dirty figure. The man looked a bit mad but there was a clarity in his eyes as he stared intently at the rat held in Weasley's hands. The boy looked worse for wear and had a bleeding leg. Granger was kneeled beside him and Harry stood a bit forward as if he intended to protect them. "I thought I was seeing things for a moment."

"The map never lies!" The gruffy man yelled.

"I know Sirius," Emily looked back at the man and finally she realized who he was, this was Sirius Black. Severus twitched as if he might move but Emily reached out and squeezed his arm with her free hand halting him. She wanted to hear more.

"No one left with us! We were alone!" Harry looked panicked as he searched the room, for what Emily was unsure.

"I rushed from my quarters and watching the map as I ran. Suddenly Sirius Black had appeared, he seemed to collide with all of you before two of you disappeared into the Whomping Willow."

"You mean me," Weasley stated grumpily looking down at his leg and cringing.

"Not just you, Ron do you mind if I were to examine your rat?"

The boy held his pet up to his chest, "I just found Scabbers, he's scared."

"I'm sure he is, but not for the reason you think."

"Please just leave him alone, he's just a rat!"

"He's a wizard!" Black yelled. "He's a traitorous one at that."

"Clam Sirius," Lupin pleaded edging his way closer to Weasley.

"You're both mad!"

"I'm afraid Ron that Sirius is right, how long has Scabbers been in your family?"

"Twelve years…"

"That doesn't seem curious to you?"

"I don't know, he's just a rat."

"Common rats don't live that long," Granger whispered.

"Correct Miss Granger and that is a strong point as to why that is not a rat."

"Maybe he's magical?" Weasley retorted.

"There are no magical rats," Hermione answered her friend.

"Then what is it?!" Harry yelled clearly losing his patience.

"An Animagus, Harry," Black said his focus still trained on the rodent. "You may have heard of him before… he goes by the name Peter Pettigrew."

"You killed him!" Harry exclaimed moving himself to block Remus more fully from his injured friend. "I've heard the story, you killed all those muggles and all they found of him…"

"Was a finger," Lupin finished.

"Oh, enough of this!" Black threw himself at Weasley and landed on his bad leg.

"Sirius, you need to be patient! Harry doesn't understand yet, they need to know why or else it will never work."

"I have been patient, for twelves years I have waited for justice and no one came! Imprisoned for a murder I never committed! Well tonight we remedy that!"

Lupin moved Black away from the teens, staring directly into the other man's eyes he tried to calm him, "I know and I'm sorry. In my own ignorance I thought you guilty and abandoned you to a terrible fate. I will spend the rest of my existence making it up to you my friend, but Harry deserves the truth." Turning back to the three Gryffindors he held out a hand to halt their further outbursts. "What changed my mind was the Map, it cannot lie… Peter is alive and Ron is holding him. Let me show you."

Pulling an old folded parchment from his back pocket he opened it and touched it with his wand, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Harry seemed to freeze as he took the parchment, what he was seeing Emily had no idea but he couldn't tear his eyes away from it. "I've never seen the shack on here before."

"It's hidden usually, it is only revealed to a certain few just in case it fell into the wrong hands."

Granger seemed to be struggling with something internally before she finally stood up and put her hands on her hips, "This makes no sense, I looked up the list of registered Anamagi for my transfiguration homework. Peter Pettigrew wasn't on the list, he would only have been removed if he truly died!"

Black laughed, "Not all people follow the rules girl!"

"The Ministry was never made aware of the three Animagi that ran around Hogwarts, sometimes its better to remain unknown," Lupin added earning a scandalized look from Granger.

"How can you say that? You're a teacher!"

Emily moved slightly causing the floor to creak. All the heads in the room turned towards the door, Emily stayed frozen in her place not ready to give away her presence yet. Weasley was the first person to snap out of it, his motivations likely driven by increasing pain in his leg. "Would you all come off it, this place is haunted, there's probably a ghoul or two out there."

"The Shrieking Shack was never haunted," Lupin answered his head titled to the side before returning his attention to the others in the room. "All the screams and howls heard throughout the village were made by me. I was what haunted these walls."

"But…"

"Hush Ronald," Granger said cutting off the boy with a quick swat to his head.

"Hey!"

"I said shhh!"

When it was clear he would not be interrupted again Lupin continued, "I was bitten as a young child. It devastated my parents as you can imagine. They did everything they could to help me but nothing could be done, they worried my life was over. It wasn't until recently, in the last few years, that the Wolfsbane potion was created. Professor Snape has been providing me with the potion this whole year. It allows me to keep my mind during the transformation, essentially I become a harmless wolf as I wait for the moon to wane.

Before the potion, I truly turned into a monster. My parents were upset because how could they send their child to a school knowing what he was and who he would become. What would people do if they found out?

My mother settled on trying to educate me from home and use the funds that were meant for my tuition to go to bringing in tutors to help her. But then Dumbledore took the Headmaster position and he heard about my situation. He had this house built and the tunnel carved out for me, I know I mentioned to you Harry that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to school. The tree was meant as a deterrent, so others would not discover the tunnel and come across me while I was dangerous.

Transforming as a child is horrendous. Your mind isn't as settled and so your monster side is just as youthful, it wants to play, to hunt, to bite… being restricted here alone I wasn't able to do those things and so I ended up harming myself. The sounds I must have made… the terror spread through the village and Dumbledore was quick to encourage anything that kept people away.

Of course being infected was terrible but being at Hogwarts was the happiest I have ever been. I got to act like a normal wizard, I made friends specifically three friends, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter.

It was obvious to them that I vanished once a month. They never pushed but still I made up all sorts of lies to try and cover my absence. I couldn't handle that if I didn't give them some excuse they might find out what I really was and leave me in their dust. I should have known better… We were always up to something and it took them an incredibly short amount of time to put it all together.

My fears were unfounded. Instead of abandoning me they became Animagi. It took them several years but Sirius and James were always top of our class and by fifth year they managed the transformation."

"I don't see how that helps you," Hermione said she was sitting down again, her posture more relaxed as she looked intently at the Defense Professor.

"As humans, I posed a threat to them, but as animals they could be by my side. Sirius and James were large enough creatures that they could keep me in check. We spent a lot of time in the forest and roaming the grounds on the nights of the full moon. It's how we came up with the idea for the Marauder's Map and then our animals inspired our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Wormtail, James was Prongs and I am Mooney.

Severus has been very kind this year though, brewing me the Wolfsbane Potion. Its been hard not having my companions all these years."

"Severus?" Black questioned "As in Severus Snape?"

"He's the Potion Master up at the school. He's a teacher now."

"You trust him to brew something you have to ingest?!"

Harry seemed to nod in agreement to Black's outburst. Lupin tried to calm his friend, "He wouldn't hurt me, but what we did as teens still hasn't left him."

"He shouldn't have gone poking around then!"

"Or perhaps you shouldn't have shown your face tonight Black." Severus stepped forward his wand extended at the fugitive. Emily moved back no longer able to see the others in the room.

"Severus…" Lupin said, Emily could hear the surprise in his voice.

"Did you forget that we were to meet, you have yet to take your potion and I came with your goblet. Imagine my surprise when I see you dashing and throwing yourself into the tunnel."

"Don't over react Severus, we just want justice. We are just trying to explain to Harry and his friends our background."

"Yes, sadly I got to be privy to your storytelling as well." Emily notice Severus took another step forward before he was suddenly lifted off his feet and he flew off to the side and into the wall. He was clearly unconscious as he slid down the wall and Emily's heart began to speed up and anger filled her as she could clearly see the room again, Harry was standing wand pointed at the Professor.

Setting down the goblet carefully in the hall she threw off the invisibility cloak and all focus was on her as she started for her brother, "Are you insane?!"

Lupin was quick to hold her back, trying to keep her arms down in an attempt to stop her from casting a spell. Unluckily for Harry, Emily was skilled in her casting and didn't need to make big movements. The shock on her brother's face was quickly replaced by pain as he rubbed his now sore arm. "By the goddess you have to be an idiot! Why on earth would you attack him?"

"She's right Harry, Professor Snape could have helped us." Granger looked apologetically at the other witch.

"How can you side with the Snake?" Weasley yelled.

"I'm not siding with anyone but if everyone has forgotten we are standing in a shack with an escaped criminal, a werewolf and a supposed traitor in the form of your rat!"

Weasley looked down at the rat that was desperately trying to get away from him and tightened his hold, "You can't believe all this?"

"It makes sense," turning to Harry she shook her friend, "And you, you attacked a teacher! What on earth were you thinking?! We are going to be in even more trouble than before, if he didn't already hate us just think of the detentions he will assign now."

"And Harry deserves it."

"Oh, you're feisty! Your mother was very similar when she got mad, though I doubt she could have performed a stinging hex so casually at your age while restrained." Black looked impressed by the newcomer.

"Let me go or I swear you will see what I have learned from Severus!"

"You actually like the git?" Black tilted his head and looked back at the dark man on the floor. Shortly Black found himself rubbing his own arm. "That really stings!"

"You should be careful Sirius, Severus is Emily's Head of House and they are quite close." Lupin turned his attention to the annoyed witch in his arms, "If I let you go will you promise not to kill you brother?"

"If I wanted him dead, he would be already."

The glare she leveled at her brother as she was released from Lupin's hold made the boy take a step back. She turned to check on Severus, quickly she turned back around and within seconds Harry was clutching his nose. He looked towards his friends but all Granger did was shrug.

"Come here Harry," the wizard hesitated, never taking his eyes off his sister, who was glaring daggers at him as she checked over the Potions Master. "I promise I just want to stop the bleeding." Harry nodded and moved forward, shortly the room heard the crack as his nose was righted into place. "You might want to have Madam Pomfrey look at it later, your sister knows her bone breaker curse well, you may need another adjustment that's stronger than the charm I just did."

"It's fine," Harry mumbled backing away slightly again. "I only did it because he was interrupting and there's still something I don't understand. Say I believe you, how do you know this is the right rat? There has to be millions of rats around Scotland."

"But not all of them are missing a toe on their front paw," Black announced pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and passing it over to Lupin.

"All the reports… he cut it off himself didn't he?"

"He made a huge scene, I had been chasing him for some time. He knew we were in an area where we would be observed, he knew I would hesitate…" Black turned and slammed his fist against the wall. "He was right and before I knew it the street had been blasted to pieces and he had vanished."

"And so he's been hiding all these years from you? Now you've come to finish him off?"

"Yes, he has earned death!" Black cried.

"I should have let Snape take you!"

"Harry you aren't listening," Lupin interjected.

"Of course he isn't," Emily rose from her position next to Severus and took a few steps forward. "What they are trying to say, is that Pettigrew faked his death when Black tried to track him down for betraying our parents."

"She's quick."

"She's first in her year," Lupin smiled at the witch.

"Lily would be so proud! Do you get into much mischief?"

"YOU KILLED OUR PARENTS!" Harry yelled. "YOU WERE THE SECRET KEEPER! WHEN THEY CARTED YOU OFF THEY SAID YOU EVEN ADMITTED TO KILLING THEM!"

"I as good as killed them," Black sighed. "I was set to be the secret keeper, everyone knew the bond James and I had. I even ran away from home and lived with his family while I finished up school as the pressure to take the mark rose within my own. It would be the ultimate prank, everyone would come after me and while I was busy being the distraction Peter would be the true secret keeper.

That night when I showed up at his apartment it looked ransacked but there wasn't a trace of magic. No stray spell marks or anything that looked like there had been a true fight. My stomach dropped and I knew, I knew we had made a mistake. When I got the house…"

Emily could see the man struggling with emotion and while she felt for the man, she was ready for this all to be over so she could get Severus back up to the school. He was never going to forgive himself for being bested by her brother. Walking over to Weasley she wrestled the rat from his grasp, the boy looked at his friends for support but neither one moved. Once she had the rat she held it up to Lupin, "What next?"

"Hold him out and away from your body." Emily did as instructed while Lupin had Black step forward. "Together and on the count of three."

The two men started counting and the rat tried desperately to wriggle himself free but the more he moved the tighter Emily held him. On three a flash of blue and white lit up the room, Emily felt the rat be pulled from her grasp and suspended in midair. Weasley squealed but everyone else remained silent watching closely. Suddenly a blinding light filled the room and as everyone opened their eyes the rat started to grow and take on human characteristics.

He squirmed as his body was forced back into his human state. With each second he became clearer, he was a short and plump man, his hair was very thin and grey with a large bald patch in the center. Emily could see easily how this man's animagus form would be a rat just from his human characteristics, even his hands stayed close together and rubbed quickly in nervous circles and his nose was pointed just below very beady and watery eyes.

"Peter, so nice of you to join us tonight," Black said and for the first time that night there was a darkness in the man that Emily could feel. Her own magic tingled in acknowledgement, as if it was greeting someone it knew well. It was a similar feeling that she would get to being around Harry.

Pettigrew's eyes darted around the room, seeking out an exit or a friend. Emily moved so she was blocking the door, this man was going no where if she could help it.

"S-Sirius… R-Remus, m-my old friends… i-it's been s-so long…"

"I don't know how much you heard Peter but we've been having a small chat while you have been attempting to escape over there," Lupin stepped forward but with no place to go the portly man seemed to shrink in on himself a bit more.

"You don't believe him, do you Remus?!" Peter looked up pleadingly. "He's come back to kill me! He's the reason Lily and James are dead!"

"You see we've been hearing a different set of events then we were led to believe…"

"You have to help me!"

"We will do nothing until we have sorted everything out," Lupin replied calmly but there was a dangerous glint in the back of his eyes that even Emily could sense.

"But can't you see he's come back to kill me! I knew he would, I've had to hide for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius would break out of prison, when no other wizard has accomplished the feat before?"

"Who knows what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him! I'm sure he prepared him to escape in case he was ever captured!"

"Voldemort would rather me dead than prepare me to escape Azkaban," chuckled Black. Pettigrew flinched at hearing the Dark Lord's name and was quick to try and take a step back but Harry pushed him forward. "Do you fear your master's name? I wouldn't blame you, I heard the way his followers would speak of you…"

"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about Sirius," though the words were mutter it was obvious to everyone in the room it was a poor attempt at feigning ignorance, even Weasley's face fell.

"You didn't need to hide from me Peter," Sirius smirked. "No, you needed to hide from all of the other groveling idiots who weren't thrown in prison. We both know there are plenty with enough money who were able to escape a life sentence, pretending they've been freed of their burden when really they are just biding they're time. I've heard things Peter… They feel like you betrayed them… Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow on your information but he never returned, did he? They think the spy for the Dark double crossed them."

"No!" Peter was looking nervously for an exit again but everyone's wands were now pointed at him. "You can't believe him! Remus, please!"

"I'm having trouble Peter understanding why an innocent man chose life as a rat for the last twelve years instead of living freely in the world…"

"I… Well I…" Peter was sweating profusely and he fiercely wiped at his eyes with his sleeve.

"We should have seen this sooner, you always clung to those more powerful than you for protection. It wasn't a large leap for you to see the strength of Voldemort and run to bow at his feet. In fact after the first time we faced him, I can't remember you ever being present for another fight again. James, Remus and I on the other hand…"

"Of course I was with you fighting!"

"Sirius is right Peter, you were mysteriously absent from those fights. How did we not see this?"

"It will forever be my burden to bare," Black said shaking his head. "The perfect bluff handed you everything you ever could have dreamed for. I'm sure you felt so important the day you strode up to Voldemort and offered up your old friends the Potters. What were their lives when you had found a stronger protector?"

"Professor?" Hermione had raised her hand as if she was in class. "I have a question."

"Please ask it, Hermione. No need to raise your hand right now."

The girl blushed but nodded her head, "Well this man, who is also Scabbers, has been sleeping in the same dorm as Harry for the last three years. Why did he not try to kill him if he is You-Know-Who's servant?"

Emily's head ached as her mind was pushed to the prophecy from earlier, she looked over to her brother to see a similar clarity in his own eyes. Both teens held onto their wands, neither one wanted the prophecy to be fulfilled.

"Peter has never done anything without knowing what was in it for him," Black answered the witch. "He wouldn't commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose. No that would key Dumbledore into the secret and why kill for a master who has lost all his power? No, you wanted to wait it out, you found a magical family that would care for you so that you would always be updated on the news, just in case the winds ever changed back in your direction."

"Mr. Black… or do you prefer Sirius?" Hermione asked looking at the scruffy man.

"You may call me Sirius."

"Okay Sirius, um how did you escape Azkaban if you aren't his follower?"

"Mostly luck I would say and the knowledge that I was always innocent," Sirius answered slowly really thinking back over the past twelve years. "Dementors feed on happy thoughts, they diminish your joy until all you have is pain and sadness. It's hard to feed off someone who is already down trodden, who knows they are innocent and who worries about the children they left behind in their rush for revenge. That line of thought kept me sane… it helped me keep my powers, certainly not at my most optimum levels and there was pain from the in ability to use my magic but it was something. When my magic or the thoughts became too much I would transform into Padfoot and run around my cell. Dementors have no eyes to see you, but they can feel and when you are less human they just assume you are, like everyone else in that prison, losing your mind.

I won't lie, I was extremely weak and unable to use my magic except to transform. But that picture from the Daily Profit when Fudge tossed it to me was the day I was reignited. I knew Peter was close to Harry and Emily and that I needed to be free. I couldn't protect them from Azkaban.

The clarity that knowing I had to leave somehow gave me strength I had been missing for years. Being the only person who knew Peter was still alive meant I needed to get to where he was residing. So one night while in my dog form when they brought me food I slipped passed them, they seemed confused by an animals presence when ever I passed one of them but they never stopped me. I swam from the island to the mainland as a dog and by the time I was done I was exhausted. I decided I needed a rest before I found some food and made my way here to Hogwarts."

Peter fell to his knees and started begging for mercy, giving up all pretense of innocence. "You can't let him kill me, Remus we are friends!"

Lupin turned to Black, "Shall we do this together?"

"I think so."

"No!" Harry said shaking his head.

"Thank you, Harry you are such a kind boy! Lily and James would be so proud…"

"Don't speak of them to Harry!"

"I…" Harry started to back away from the groveling man.

Emily sighed tired of all the back and forth, "I think what Harry means is that while we would enjoy the many creative ways you might come up with to kill this rat…"

Peter gulped at the thought and Weasley mumbled, "Speak for yourself."

"If Sirius ever wants to be free, the rat needs to come with us to the castle as evidence."

"Is that what you both want?" Black asked looking between the two teens. At their nod he moved over to Weasley and cast a spell to wrap up his leg, making sure to create a splint to hold it straight. "Then let's get back up to the castle quickly, I'm ready for some justice."

"And Professor Snape?" Hermione questioned as Weasley was helped to stand.

"I'll take care of him," Emily waved off the worried girl as she moved towards the sour man. Kneeling down she put one of her hands over his and felt him squeeze it. So he was awake, leaning closely into him she asked, "Should I pretend to wake you?" Feeling a slight nod Emily moved her wand, acting as if she was casting an enervate spell.

Severus took a moment to open his eyes, looking around the room as the group was strapping Pettigrew to Ron and Lupin he turned to Emily, "Explain."

"I think it's best we get back up to the school as quickly as possible," the witch offered helping the Potion Master to stand. "But apparently Weasley has been harboring a felon as his pet rat for the past few years in the castle."

"Not on purpose," the boy mumbled, his anger clear as he glared at the man now shackled to him.

"I see."

"Severus, please just bear with us until we can get everyone safely to the castle." Lupin looked pleadingly at the other teacher unaware that he was already clued into the situation.

"By all means wolf lead the way."

With that the group headed out of the room.


	47. The Time Turner

**47**

Emily stayed close to Severus' side as the odd group moved from the tunnel. The pair were in the back observing the others in their trek back towards the castle. Harry and Sirius were at the front the pair talking intently though Emily could not hear them. They were followed closely by Granger and then Lupin, Weasley and Pettigrew who had to walk at an awkward angle to fit in the smaller space.

"This is a circus," Severus muttered annoyed at the slow progress they were making.

"Well at least it will be over soon, we just need to make it to Dumbledore's office right?"

"That is as long as we avoid the Minister. Fudge has been on the grounds most of the day, he will act out of terror and ask questions later."

"But he's an extremely weak wizard I thought?"

"Weak minded yes, but his magic is decent. Certainly not more powerful than Black's but he has been unable to use his magic properly up until his escape and that can be a dangerous combination."

"You think his magic could lash out?"

"It's possible, there are things about magic we have not yet covered and there are reasons I don't want to push your magic too far yet."

"And when did you want to go over these things?" Emily felt a little annoyed at finding out there was more to the magic that she possessed than what she already knew.

"Before you take on your inheritance at 15."

"You know I expect you to explain it to me now."

"I have no doubt, and this wasn't held back to hinder you in anyway it just is something that usually doesn't need to be spoken about until one comes of age."

"My inheritance isn't my coming of age, I won't be 17 for another two years at that point."

"I'm aware but the inheritance will change things." Severus never took his eyes off the people in front of him as he spoke even though Emily was staring at him. "We will continue this conversation later, I promise you, but we must be on alert now, your brother and Black are exiting the tunnel."

It didn't take long for them all to be clear of the tree but what did surprise Emily was the ginger looking cat that had its paw pressed against a knot in the trunk as everyone climbed back onto the grounds. Once everyone was a safe distance from the tree the cat dashed towards Granger and rubbed itself against her leg giving off a loud purr. "Good Crookshanks," the girl praised, giving the animal a pet.

"We need to keep moving," Sirius urged looking back at the group.

Pettigrew must have twitched because Lupin was quick to growl out, "Don't even think about it, Peter."

The clouds started sifting and suddenly the whole group was bathed in moonlight. Severus' eyes watched Lupin intently. "Were you able to give the Wolf his potion?"

Emily froze and looked up at her mentor, "No it's still in the shack. I set it down as to not spill it when I was angry at Harry."

"Everyone freeze!" Severus yelled and for the most part everyone did.

"Oh, come on Snivellus not now!" Sirius yelled.

"Lupin didn't take his potion, Mutt!" That seemed to stop the man as he swerved around and shoved Harry behind himself. Severus for his part ran towards Lupin and was quickly casting spells to release Weasley as Pettigrew begged him to help him as well.

Lupin's change was rather quick and Sirius transformed into a giant black dog as he leapt towards the werewolf. Black grabbed at his friend's neck who had broken free of his shackles and pulled him away from where Severus was protecting the still injured Weasley.

Emily's focus was trained on Pettigrew as he dove for Lupin's wand. Harry was quick to intercept him yelling " _Expelliarmus_!" The wand flew from the ground and into his waiting hand. Emily attempted to cast a stunner at the man but the spell just missed him as he transformed back into a rat. Emily chased after the rodent as quickly as she could using her wand to keep a light on him but it was just too difficult. Being so small it was easy for him to hide from her in a shadow or under a root of a tree. In a last attempt the witch shot off several spells in various directions but after careful inspection she had to admit it was a lost cause, Pettigrew was free and the prophecy would come true.

From not too far away Emily could hear whimpering and she started running in the direction of the sounds. She realized she was heading towards the lake.

The Slytherin could hear Granger calling out to her brother, "Harry, Professor Snape said we need to…" Emily pushed herself to run faster unsure why the other girl had stopped calling out but it quickly became clear.

Hermione was running towards her brother as over a hundred dementors descended on him and Sirius as they laid by the lake. "Think happy thoughts!" Harry called out as the girls got closer. Emily and Harry both had their wands extended towards the oncoming creatures. The overwhelming feeling of darkness was starting to spread and Emily looked at her brother and the pair locked eyes, both clearly nervous about this turn of events.

"SEVERUS!" Emily yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping the Potion Master would hear, before joining in with Harry as he called out " _Expecto Patronum_!" Thin silver wisps came from their wands but it certainly wasn't strong enough for what they were facing. They tried again, both trying to use stronger memories than before though again there wasn't much change to what they were producing. The twins felt Hermione collapse and the witch could feel her brother give in slightly. "No Harry, fight it. We can do this together!"

Emily searched herself and clung onto thoughts of Draco the best she could but she had to admit the fog was starting to close in on her own mind. The pair tried one last time and this time they seemed to create a dome around their group, it wasn't the full protection they needed but it did start to push the dementors back.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold this!" Harry cried focusing as hard as he could. "There's too many, I've only ever practiced against one!"

"We can't give up," Emily urged. "If we can maintain this long enough Severus should be able to help soon."

"Em…"

"Not now! Focus everything on being happy, feeling joy."

The twins were holding onto their wands with both hands hoping that in some way they were adding more force to their spells. The fog was pushing in closer and they both couldn't deny that their dome was starting to fade away. Harry started leaning to the side and Emily steeled herself to be left alone but then the impossible happened, from the other bank came a bright white stag cantering out towards them. Instantly the dementors started to pull back but it wasn't enough. A few moments later a bright snake slithered by its feet and wound itself around the stag, that seemed to be what was needed as the dementors finally left and Emily felt Harry let go. She joined him, both feeling comfort from the magic on the other side of the lake but as Harry gave in to the tiredness a voice broke through the witch's mind forcing her to become more alert.

"Emily!"

Turning her head the witch saw a panicked Severus followed closely by Fudge and Dumbledore. Sighing she looked down and realized she was the only one conscious left. She tried to stand but her body felt weak, "We're okay!"

Severus rushed to her side and helped her to her feet. "You need to remain calm. Fudge will overreact but we can salvage this. Dumbledore has a plan, but I need you to promise not to intervene until told," he whispered as the remaining wizards got closer.

"And how do you already know his plans?" Looking Emily in the eyes she felt a light push and took the hint, the pair had communicated mentally. "Tell me."

"In time, now promise."

"I promise, but you annoy me sometimes."

That earned her an eye roll turning she noticed Fudge was indeed already overreacting. "Where are the dementors going?! It's Black! They need to administer the kiss!"

"Perhaps we should take him back up to the school," Dumbledore offered nodding towards Severus. "Perhaps you might be able to assist in detaining him and ensuring he is kept safely away from everyone in the castle."

"Of course Headmaster, shall Miss Potter return with you?"

"She can remain with you or she can join us in the Hospital Wing." The pair locked eyes and there was a silence for a few moments, Emily knew the pair were communicating again.

"Do you really think it best we leave Miss Potter so close to Black? What would Lucius say?" Fudge seemed worried at the thought of an upset Malfoy Lord.

"I think he would rather her be with Severus, who is his closest confidant, but we can always bring her with us."

"We shall meet you in the Hospital Wing shortly," Severus answered letting it be known that if he had a choice Emily would remain by his side.

Fudge looked reluctant but again the thought of upsetting the powerful Lord had him holding his tongue. "I guess we do have three students to help, was that Weasel we left behind?"

"That was Mr. Weasley, he is Arthur Weasley's youngest son. He works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."

"Does he now…"

Emily struggled and held tightly onto Severus' arm as he cast a binding charm and began levitating the Animagus in front of them. It wasn't long before the pair were inside the doors to the castle and the Potion Master was quick to call on an elf.

"What can Tippy be doing for Master Snapey?" the elf asked jogging happily beside the odd group.

"We need two hot cocoas and a bar or two if you can manage."

"Does Master Snapey be needing anything else?"

"Retrieve a Pepper Up potions from my lab and bring some chicken and bread for the mutt here. If you can put together a small basket that can be hidden easily, of things under a preservation charm, enough for a few days, that would also be useful."

"Tippy get a few of the elves to help and bes right back!"

"Meet us in Professor Flitwick's office."

With an awkward bow, as the group was still moving, the elf vanished from sight. Emily who had never been to Professor Flitwick's office was exhausted by the time they reached it. She leaned against the wall as Severus set Sirius on Flitwick's chair and enervated him. Sirius looked around frantically but he didn't struggle, he seemed resigned. "You must be pleased," he said noting the binds that kept him restrained. With a flick of the other man's wand Sirius' face turned to disbelief as the ropes vanished.

"Listen carefully mutt because there is not much time." Sirius looked like he was about to argue but his eyes caught a tired Emily's and he was quick to nod. "Fudge was with Dumbledore when they came across us, we needed to keep up pretenses and get you away before he could demand the kiss be administered."

"You would have liked that."

"There are many things I would like in this life but watching you lose your soul for a crime you never committed is not one of them. I may be many things, I am however, not that heartless."

Emily smirked, "You're going soft Sev."

"Hush brat."

Sirius' eyes seemed to dart quickly between the pair and there was an acknowledgment there. "So, what am I to do?"

"Master Snapey," a voice squeaked as a few elves popped into the room each holding various items. "Where yous be liking everything?"

"Put the basket behind the desk and the dinner goes to the man sitting at it. Make sure Emily and him each have a hot cocoa to drink."

"And these?" another elf held up several vials in offering.

"Hand one to Emily and tuck the rest in the basket with the food."

Emily quickly drained the contents of the vile and soon steam was pouring from her ears. As she sipped on the hot chocolate the taste on her tongue turned sweet and she could feel her strength returning. Sirius went to mimic the girl but was quickly stopped by Severus. "Fudge will want to come up here to look at you, you need to appear weary. Take the potion after he has left the room."

The dirty man nodded in agreement, "And then what is next on your great plan?"

"You will wait up here and help will come for you. It won't be too much longer from now, the basket of food should see you until you can get set up somewhere. Dumbledore will find a way to be in touch."

"And Dumbledore believes you? How much time could you have possibly had to fill him in? Were we out for long?"

"He believes you innocent and that is all you need know right now."

"And then, when I do get set up somewhere, what next? The damn rat got away, I can't sit back and let him cause more harm."

"Just do as you're told."

Sirius huffed but he took a bite of his chicken instead of retorting, Emily could tell he was trying not to lash out but then again maybe he really was too tired to fight with the man in front of him for the moment. She had no doubt that in any other situation the pair would be at each other's throats. The witch for her part was proud of Severus because she could tell this act of kindness was partially killing him inside.

"Once you are done banish the plate," Severus added as he walked towards Emily. The man rolled his eyes but was careful to watch as the young witch was guided from the room.

As they walked towards the Hospital Wing Emily took Severus' hand and gave it a squeeze. The man didn't acknowledge the gesture but he didn't drop her hand either. "Are you feeling better?"

"A bit."

"If you needed to cast magic do you think you could?"

"Probably, I would be stronger in an hour or two or with some sleep."

"Do you need more chocolate?"

"Do I need to cast magic?"

"Probably, I'll send you with some chocolate bars. Poppy has a few I'm sure."

"Send me?"

"I need you to remember something very quickly do you understand?" Emily nodded. "Flitwick's office is on the seventh floor, the thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower."

"Why do I…"

"What did I say?"

"Flitwick's office is the thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower on the seventh floor."

"Good."

At that moment the pair watched as Dumbledore stepped out and held the door open for Emily. Looking to Severus he gave her hand a squeeze and a mental nudge. Opening up her mind she heard his voice clearly _'Be careful and quick. Remember emotions are difficult but at the end of the day my door is always open for you.'_

"On you go Miss Potter, I fear I must lock you in now but go quickly with Miss Granger and your brother. Madame Pomfrey left out some chocolate bars on the side table grab a few," with a wink the door slowly shut behind her and she was left staring at Harry and Granger who were looking at her with equal confusion.

"Emily come quick!" Walking over to the pair the witch was confused at what was so urgent if they were being locked in. "We don't have much time."

Granger seemed to pull something from under her shirt and Emily instantly knew what she was looking at but how on earth had the muggleborn gotten her hands on one or was this all part of Dumbledore's plan? Rushing forward she looked to the side table by the two Gryffindors and noticed a stack of chocolate bars grabbing a handful she joined them.

The chain was tossed over the twins and with three turns suddenly the world around them blurred into motion. The room seemed to brighten and sounds and noises filled their ears. Emily felt slightly unsteady, she tried to ask how much longer it would take but she couldn't hear whether she had even made a peep.

When the world righted itself, Emily closed her eyes and tried to center herself. "I probably should have warned you to close your eyes sooner," Granger said. "Take a moment but we need to move from here!"

"Hermione, how on earth did we end up in the Entrance Hall?" Harry looked baffled as Emily opened her eyes and noticed the same thing as her brother.

"We've gone back in time, hurry!" The girl darted for a tapestry and the three students hid behind it.

"How is that possible?"

"How did you get one of those is a better question," Emily mumbled as she poked her head around the edge of the tapestry. "I hear footsteps but no one is there."

"That has to be us going to Hagrid's," the other girl said thinking something over in her mind as she counted on her fingers. "It should be about the right time."

"Are you saying I'm here but also over there?" Harry was pointing from himself to the back of the tapestry with a look of disbelief.

"Yes, now be quiet. I'm trying to think."

"And I'm trying to figure out what's going on!"

"Don't yell," Emily scolded her brother. "We can't risk being found right now. I think I should be in Severus' quarters with Draco already so we shouldn't cross my path. I never left his rooms until we went to give Lupin his potion."

Granger nodded, "That will be one less thing to worry about."

"Excuse me, can one of you two please clue me in to what's going on and what that necklace is?"

"It's a time turner," Emily answered at the other girl's hesitation. "And I am also curious as to why you have it."

"It was to get to all my classes. I didn't want to miss out on any of the topics so I signed up for everything but I think I over did it. I've already cut Divination but I'm afraid Muggle Studies will have to go as well, I just can't keep this up for another year…"

"Your parents are muggles," Emily pointed out. "And you still signed up for Muggle Studies?"

"I thought it would be interesting to see how it was taught from a wizarding point of view…" The girl looked around the small nook they were hiding in and dropped her head into her hands, "I'm too tired, what did Dumbledore mean? How is this going to help anyone?"

"What were his instructions to you?"

Harry shrugged, "He said that he thought we could not only help Sirius but that perhaps more than one innocent life could be saved."

"Who else needs saving?" Emily thought of the man who at this time was roaming somewhere on the grounds freely and in a few hours would find himself confined to Flitwick's office.

Harry paced as best he could in the tight quarters. "We were headed to Hagrid's!" Harry said excitedly looking between the girls.

"I already pointed that out," Hermione answered as she leaned back against the stone wall.

"We can save Buckbeak!"

Emily looked over, annoyed at her brother, "You think the Headmaster is worried about saving a creature when we need to save a man…"

"Our Godfather," Harry added quietly.

"Who told you that?"

"He did."

"When?"

"In the tunnel."

"Can you play twenty questions later, we have a more pressing dilemma here! We need to figure out what we are supposed to do and quickly."

"Fine," Emily answered crossing her arms, "why do we need to save the hippogriff?"

"Dumbledore mentioned the window where Sirius is being kept."

"Severus mentioned that to me as well, granted it's kind of odd seeing as I was with him when he set him up there."

"A window though… Buckbeak can fly," Harry's voice was getting eager again. "We fly Buckbeak to the window and then Sirius can leave with him!"

"And we have to do that without being seen," Emily looked to the other witch who nodded her head. The girl looked exhausted, Emily handed her over one of the bars she had grabbed and then passed one to Harry. "We should probably eat this quickly, if we have to do all that we are going to need some strength."

The trio quietly ate their chocolate as they listened to the footsteps that were passing until they were left in silence.

"I think it's safe to move," Harry announced poking his head around the tapestry. "The hall is clear, hurry!"

The three dashed from their hiding place and Granger looked around worriedly, "What if someone is looking?"

"Just run to the edge of the forest," Harry commanded.

"The forest has a ward to block us." Emily said thinking back to the day Bill had visited the castle. "It's supposed to trap everything in and keep everyone but Hagrid out."

"The ward is gone, Hagrid told us about it," Hermione answered pointing towards the greenhouses. The group ducked once they reached the large glass structures making sure they wouldn't be seen if anyone happened to be in one of them. "Hagrid said Fudge wanted to take a few people into the forest earlier to inspect it for Black, it's why they didn't do Buckbeak's execution right after the appeal."

Harry scoffed, "Apparently the minister is afraid of the forest after dark."

"I seem to remember you thinking there was a werewolf around every corner when we went in after dark," Emily reminded her brother.

"I was a first year! And maybe I was wrong about the werewolf then but there will be one tonight."

"Don't forget about the spiders."

"Ron's the one that's scared of spiders!"

"Will you two stop," Granger was crouched in front of the pair. "It seems clear, if we head around the Whomping Willow we should be able to make it into the tree line."

Once again the small group made a mad dash across the grounds. Staying as clear as they could of the Whomping Willow the trio soon found themselves in the shelter of the trees.

"Perhaps we should get to a spot where we can observe Hagrid's hut?" Emily suggested once everyone had caught their breath.

"It's a home," Harry snapped.

"Fine, his _house_ ," Emily corrected ensuring she was emphasizing the word. "Despite what you might think, I'm not attempting to be offensive."

Granger leveled a glare at the boy and that seemed to be enough for him to hold his tongue from lashing back at his sister. His cheeks blushed and motioned off with his hand, "So maybe we should head that way."

The group moved as silently as they could being careful to remain hidden by the large trees. Once they could see Hagrid's front door the group stopped and waited. It wasn't more than a few seconds before they watched the door open and Hagrid appear. He seemed to look around before looking down in surprise. Ushering an invisible person in they could hear the man say, "Yeh shouldn've come."

"How did we beat you here?" Emily pondered watching the window as suddenly she could make out the figure of her brother.

"We have to walk really slowly to all stay hidden under the cloak," Hermione answered joining the witch as she observed what was unfolding through the window. "I doubt we will all fit under it by next year."

"This is so weird," Harry added tilting his head to the side. "I mean, that's me and you!"

"Try doing this all year."

"We need to get closer to Buckbeak," Harry nudged the group to move and suddenly they heard a squeak. Turning they all saw the rat in the window and Hermione was quick to stop the wizard as he made to change directions. "He's right there, we just need to nab him and we can avoid this whole thing!"

"We can't be seen!" Granger urged. "Even by ourselves."

"She's not wrong," Emily added, edging herself towards the pumpkin patch where she could see the hippogriff tied to the fence. "People have been known to kill their past or future selves, granted they were older and probably not as trusting as you. You may only stun yourself or maybe you would create an entire timeline where we weren't there to protect Sirius from dementors and he ended up a soulless husk."

Harry stared blankly at his sister before he started mumbling about crazy witches which earned him a slap to the back of his head from Granger. "It was just an idea!"

"That's not why I hit you," the girl huffed crossing her arms as she moved to join the other witch.

The door to the hut swung open and the three Gryffindors shuffled out into the pumpkin patch. Hagrid moved to calm the hippogriff and rushed the students away begging them not to watch. The trio ran off as a loud knock sounded at the door. Hagrid went back into the hut and shortly the Minister could be seen looking out the window to ensure the creature was indeed still there. When he moved Emily urged the others forward, "We need to act now. He's seen him, if he vanishes now, he will know Hagrid isn't at fault."

"Let me try," Harry said running quickly into the patch. With a bow of the head, the creature mimicked him allowing him to approach but remained where he was, making no attempt to stand. Harry petted Buckbeak and attempted to shove him to standing a few times but he wouldn't budge.

"Oh, seriously? We need to hurry!" Granger darted to Harry's side and joined in helping him to push, realizing it wasn't working she unhooked the rope from the fence and tried pulling but still the creature remained on the ground.

Sighing at the obvious, Emily grabbed the dead ferrets from where they were hanging on a post and dangled it close to creature's head. Immediately it stood and started to follow the girl into the forest. Emily looked at the two stunned Gryffs and motioned for them to join her, it would not do for them to be discovered instead of the beast. Once everyone was back safely hidden in the trees they moved themselves a bit deeper inside the treeline just in case the Ministry officials decided to sweep the edge of the forest looking for the escaped hippogriff.

Harry looked uncomfortable as he looked between Granger and his sister, "Now what?"

"We wait," Emily answered looking in the direction of the Whomping Willow. "There's nothing we can really do until Sirius is in Flitwick's office."

Granger shivered, the sun was going down and the prospect of having to stay in the forest for a few hours was starting to bother her. Harry moved and wrapped an arm around his friend who smiled at him in thanks. Emily turned her head away and led Buckbeak off towards a spot where they would be able to watch when their past selves came out from the tunnel. Settling down the girl leaned against a tree trunk and the large animal settled next to her, putting its head on her legs.

"He likes you," Granger said as she and Harry joined the pair.

"I see that."

"You don't have to be rude," Harry snipped.

"I'm tired," Emily answered her head looking up into the canopy of trees, she could just make out a few stars shining through.

"She's fine, Harry. We're all tired," the other girl urged. "Once this is over I'm sleeping for an entire day."

"I wish I could do that," Emily said looking over at the girl who was now sat to her right and leaning against the closest tree.

"Why can't you?"

"I promised Cedric I would spend tomorrow with him."

"He's your boyfriend, right? He should understand."

"I can't exactly tell him why I'm so tired though."

"Oh right, I guess not…" the girl got quiet again. After a few minutes of silence she couldn't help herself any longer, "What's it like having a boyfriend?"

"I don't know, they take up a lot of your time but I guess that's the point since essentially you are trying to figure out if you want to enter a contract together, at least in my case, not everyone gets that trial period. It's kind of exhausting at times trying to make sure the other person is happy and balancing everything so your friends don't feel like you don't have enough time for them. Especially this year with all the additional work I've been doing with Professor Snape."

"Contract?"

"Betrothal contracts, most wizarding families enter into them."

"That's barbaric!"

"That's a rather muggle view on things."

"Oh please," Harry groaned.

"But it is, this isn't the muggle world. There are customs and traditions, you don't have to follow them but if you are going to live in this world you should respect them."

The group fell silent once again, Granger was deep in thought and Harry looked bored as he tossed a wrapper he had in his pocket up in the air repeatedly before catching it.

"I have a question," Granger said unable to bear the silence any longer, when no one responded she decided that was permission enough to ask. "I saw the dementors but why didn't they get Sirius… or even us?"

"Harry and I were able to create a shield around us. It wasn't fully formed but it kept us separated from them."

"Did you not see them?"

Emily looked over to her brother confused, "See whom?"

"Our parents," he mumbled quickly losing his nerve.

"They're dead." Emily said looking at her brother with concern.

"I know!" he appeared frustrated as he ran a hand through his already wild hair. "But only a fully formed Patronus could have saved us and it's just…"

"I saw the Patronus, well both of them, but I highly doubt one of our parents had a snake as a protector from what I've heard about them. Harry, even with the little I've read on Necromancy the dead don't cast spells when brought back to life, they have to be controlled by another force."

Harry looked sullen but Granger looked nervous, "You've read about Necromancy?"

"It's just been touched on in some of my books, I don't have any desire to study it." The answer seemed to pacify the girl and it was true, the art of rising the dead didn't appeal to Emily. There wasn't much to be gained really from the magic either, mostly from what the witch gathered was that the main use in the past was to add bodies to large armies or the misconceived notion that someone could bring back a loved one. Once dead, a person no longer belonged to this realm and she had no desire to change that.

The group fell back into silence and Emily could tell that both her companions were starting to get antsy. Granger was fiddling with her sleeve and Harry had started levitating the wrapper and making it do crazy movements.

There was a strong breeze and Granger had a soft exhale of "Finally," before she jumped to her feet. "We're coming."

Harry was quick to follow suit, "Who goes after Pettigrew?"

"No one," the girls said together.

The boy looked over shocked at his companions, "How can you both say that?! We're just supposed to let him run back to his master?!"

"Harry, how are we going to find a rat in this forest and do you really believe he can find You-Know-Who?" Granger's hands were on her hips. "Nobody even knows where he is! How is Pettigrew supposed to find him?!"

Emily knew that while the girl's logic seemed sound the rat was destined for be reunited with his master by the dawn of the next week, obviously Harry had not shared the prophecy with his friends. Standing she looked towards where Lupin was starting to transform. "I hate to break up your little spat."

"We are not fighting," Harry said turning on his sister.

"Wonderful, then you both won't mind if we get out of here." The two Gryffindors looked at her as if she was crazy, so she pointed towards the action unfolding from earlier. "We are about to be greeted by a werewolf shortly."

"Oh right," Granger looked around. "Where do we go?"

"I saw Hagrid head towards the school," Harry called starting to run back towards the Gamekeeper's hut. "His house is empty!"

Everyone was running and within a few minutes they found themselves back in the pumpkin patch, even Buckbeak seemed to sense the urgency and had run without the promise of food. Granger started to head in but Harry stopped her, "Maybe we should wait outside, that way we can keep an eye on everything."

"We can't keep Buckbeak in the open with Fudge running around," Emily prompted petting the creature's head in an attempt to calm him.

"I'll stay here and bring him inside," Granger offered moving to take the rope from the other witch.

"But…"

Granger shook her head and leveled a glare at Harry, "It will be better if you two go watch together. It will be good for you." With that the girl turned around and led the hippogriff into the hut leaving brother and sister to stare at each other.

"By the Goddess, this is ridiculous, let's go to the lake." Emily started walking off towards the lake and was soon joined by her brother who seemed distinctly uncomfortable now that they were alone.

The awkwardness didn't last though as suddenly dementors came from every direction. Emily held back a shiver running down her spine. Harry ran to the lake's edge seemingly looking for something but what she had no idea, he took a step back and appeared to now be waiting as he watched the other bank closely. Suddenly he whipped out his wand and was screaming " _EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

A silvery stag burst from his wand and Emily could see the dementors start to retreat. "Emily you need to help!" Emily hesitated she had been struggling with this all year and unlike Harry an animal like shape had never escaped her wand. "HURRY!"

Emily searched her memories worried about what to use, taking a few steps forward a flash of red crossed her mind as she raised her wand and joined her brother, " _Expecto Patronum."_ There was a rush of warmth that flooded through her system and seemed to flow from her body and into her wand. It was a feeling she had never known before. Watching, the silver mist formed a large snake that slithered over to the stag and wrapped itself around it just as she had seen earlier. The dementors fell back until they all had completely gone. With the threat taken care of the animals unwound themselves and moved back to their casters. The snake nuzzled Emily's hand before it vanished into nothing.

Emily could feel her body still humming, looking over at her brother and his goofy grin he was clearly experiencing something similar.

"What did you two do?!"

Whirling around the twins were greeted by an annoyed looking Granger and Buckbeak. "We saved our lives," Harry answered running up to his friend and giving her a hug.

"What?"

"We were the ones who cast the Patronuses we saw. I thought it was our parents but it was us all along!"

"That's extremely advanced…" there was a glint of jealousy behind the girl's eyes but she seemed to smother it quickly.

"Yeah, but we already had done it before, so I knew we could do it again!"

"Technically it was just the once," Emily corrected her twin. Turning she noticed her and Severus were heading back towards the castle with Sirius as the others were loaded onto stretchers by Fudge and Dumbledore. "We're nearly there, we went straight to Flitwick's office from here."

Granger nodded in agreement, "We have about forty-five minutes before we need to be back in the Hospital Wing. We don't want anyone to know we are missing."

The group moved towards the castle and snuck up to the bottom of the West Tower. The trio counted the windows and could see there was light coming from the window they needed to reach. "It was dark when we got to the room so that means he's there." Emily noticed a figure walking out in the darkness towards the forest and she had a feeling that it was someone sent to retrieve a dementor on Fudge's orders. "We need to get him now."

"But what if Fudge hasn't seen him yet?" Harry asked.

"We can't wait any longer, I think our wonderful Minister has already sent someone to retrieve a dementor." She pointed in the direction where the figure was vanishing into the trees. The other two nodded in agreement.

"Harry you and Emily take Buckbeak and I will meet you at the tower door to let you both back in."

"Can you get up there quick enough?" Emily questioned looking skeptically at the Gryffindor.

"Harry's shown me a few secret passageways, just go, now!" With that Granger ran off towards the entrance as fast as she could and the twins climbed onto Buckbeak. Harry sat in front and seemed to have good control of the hippogriff as they took off and started flying higher. When they were in front of the window Emily was quick to pull out her wand and unlock it. The old window swung forward and Sirius approached it tentatively.

The man examined the scene before him and quickly looked behind himself, "You were just here a few minutes ago…"

Emily shrugged, "It's magic."

The man gave a deep belly laugh before calming himself and looking back at the two teens, "So is this my ride?"

"Yeah," Harry answered nervously. "Get on quickly!"

"Don't forget your things!"

The man reached down and passed the basket through to the witch, "Oh I won't, it's not everyday Snivellus offers help, you're sure he didn't poison any of this right?" Carefully the man crawled out of the window and threw a leg over the hippogriff, settling in behind the witch.

"You really are going to have to stop calling him that," Emily said as Harry urged Buckbeak to go higher.

"So no to the poison?"

"He's not a bad man, despite whatever happened between you in the past."

"You don't know him like I do."

"Or perhaps I know him better," Emily challenged as they landed on the top of the tower. The twins slid off the creature and Sirius took the rope from Harry as he settled into a better position for the ride ahead.

"How can I…"

Harry waved his hand, "Just go, and maybe write… if it's safe…"

"Of course I will write to you both! This is the first step to freedom Harry, we will make it happen. My offer always stands no matter where in the world I am! You two take care of yourselves!" With a kick of his heel to Buckbeak he acted like the animal was to take off but it didn't budge, "It worked in those cowboy things Lily would make us go see sometimes."

The twins having not been exposed to many muggle movies other than Dudley's favorites just nodded nicely at the man. Harry patted the side of the beast and yelled "Go!"

Instantly Buckbeak took to the air and the pair started to disappear into the clouds.

"What offer was he talking about?" Emily asked looking at her brother who still hadn't torn his eyes off the skies.

"He said we could live with him."

"Harry, you can't live with him until we find a way to clear his name." The witch had long given up hope that her brother might join her at the Manor, if last summer couldn't convince him she was done asking so she didn't mention the fact that he already had a better option than the Dursleys available to him.

"Is he gone?" An out of breath Granger held open the door to the tower as she hunched over trying to regulate her breathing.

Harry looked over to his friend and with one glace back at the sky he nodded, "Yeah, he's gone."


	48. Owl Post Again

**48**

"Good!" Granger said righting herself, "We have about ten minutes to make it back to the Hospital Wing before Professor Dumbledore locks us in."

The group didn't hesitate, they all dashed for the stairs. Running as quickly as they could down various corridors not caring about whether they might see someone at this late hour anymore. They were however forced to pause as Peeves went cackling past them doing a little jig. The three clung tightly to the wall knowing that a run in with the poltergeist could cost them more time than they had available.

"What if we don't make it?" Harry asked as they all took off again.

"We don't have a choice," Granger answered pushing herself to keep up with the twins.

"It doesn't matter," Emily said rounding the corner, she was now able to see herself walk past the headmaster and into the Hospital Wing. "We made it."

The other two slowed down as they approached. Severus and Dumbledore turned to look at the trio and Emily nodded her head at the pair.

"Very good," the Headmaster said holding up his finger, after a second he smiled, "You've gone, go now and I will lock you in."

As Emily passed, Severus reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze in acknowledgement. The witch turned and locked eyes with the man for a minute and felt a nudge, opening up her mind she quickly showed him her Patronus before turning and joining the other two inside the ward.

Harry and Granger made their way to two unkempt beds and slipped into them quietly. Emily stood, unsure of what to do as Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and the sound of the door locking could be heard echoing through the wing.

"Am I finally allowed to attend to my patients?" the annoyed woman asked. She hustled over to the end of one of the beds and seemed surprised at something. "Did you two already eat the chocolate?"

"I gave it to them," Emily said thinking on her feet, in a way she had given it to them just not while they were in their beds.

"Miss Potter!" The mediwitch turned quickly to see her newest patient. "Professor Dumbledore said you would be joining us. Did Severus give you anything?"

"I had a Pepperup potion and some hot chocolate."

"Well that's a start, get into a bed dear."

Emily was about to protest that she didn't need a bed when a furious yell could be heard. Emily moved quietly over the edge of a free bed and sat down not wanting to be stood awkwardly in the middle of the ward when whatever was approaching got to them.

"This is a disaster!" Fudge yelled. "How am I supposed to explain this to the press?!"

"I don't believe anyone needs to be notified Cornelius," Dumbledore seemed to be trying to soothe the man.

"I already sent off an owl while we were waiting! Someone had to help him escape!"

"I assure you Minister, that is impossible." Severus sounded calm but Emily could hear the annoyed edge to his tone.

"You were the one who put him up there!"

"Surely you don't think Severus could have done this?" Dumbledore intervened. "Severus had to bring Miss Potter down here for Poppy to examine and has been with me ever since. You said you saw him in the room before you sent for the dementors."

There was a frustrated grunt as the voices drew even closer. "What about the children?"

"I locked them in the Hospital Wing for their own safety while the dementors were being brought up. I didn't think you would want to take any chances of something happening to the Potter twins."

"No, no of course not…" there was a click and the three men made their way towards where the students were in their beds.

Severus came to stand behind Emily as the other pair examined the three Gryffindors. "How are they doing Poppy?"

"They'd be better if you all would let them rest! Dementors on school grounds?! You need to remove them right away Minister, they attempted to kiss three innocent children!" Fudge looked worried and opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by the angry woman. "I do not want excuses, those creatures will be back to Azkaban tonight or the papers may learn more of what took place here!"

"It will be done immediately," the man said taking a few steps back from the witch. "Albus, have you ever thought of having dragons at your gates?"

"Hagrid would be quite pleased," the man said with a stroke to his beard, "but I fear Poppy here may end us both if we were to try it. Why don't we go to my office and you can alert the Ministry whilst we discuss protections for the coming year."

The plump man nodded his head and awkwardly bowed to Emily bidding everyone goodnight before following the Headmaster from the wing.

"If you don't mind, I'll keep watch over Miss Potter tonight," Severus said urging the girl up.

The woman stared between the two and could see Emily leaning into the older man, "Only if you get her straight to bed and if you need anything, I expect a firecall."

"Of course." With that Severus guided the young witch from the room not wanting the older woman to have the chance to change her mind. "I am proud of you," the man said after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm proud of you too, for not killing Sirius when you had the chance. You two really don't like each other."

"No, we don't, but I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would only ever kill again if it meant saving my life or someone I cared for. His death would have served no purpose but old vengeance."

"You've killed?"

"I have and you will too." There was a certainty in his voice that made a shiver run down her spine. "I can't stop your fate, but I will be here to help you, always."

Emily turned and hugged the man tightly as they reached the portrait that guarded his quarters. Tonight was a turning point for her, Voldemort would be back soon, stronger than ever before and her chance to delay it had escaped. She didn't know when she would be expected to fight but she knew she was going to have to start preparing immediately. The man kissed her forehead before taking a step back and intoning his password.

The witch quickly found herself in the arms of her best friend as questions fell from his mouth, "Where have you two been? It's been hours! Are you okay? Why do you seem so tired? Did your potion work?"

"Have a good night you two," Severus said with a smirk as he headed towards his room.

"Where are you going?" Draco questioned turning towards his godfather.

"To bed, you both will stay in the guest room tonight."

"Tonight?!" Draco said looking down at his best friend. "You two realize it's almost morning, right?!"

The door to Severus' bedroom clicked and Emily rolled her eyes, "Can we go lie down and I'll tell you everything…"

0o0oo0oo0o0

Emily slept until around midday the next day and it took another hour before she and Draco rolled out of bed. Severus was gone from his quarters, so the pair called on an elf to bring them breakfast, finding themselves too lazy to head to the kitchens. As the witch finished her coffee she figured it was time for her to get dressed and find Cedric, no doubt he was already annoyed at how long it had taken her to leave the dungeon as it was.

Wandering through the castle, Emily found it to be mostly deserted. Apparently there was a surprise last minute Hogsmeade trip approved and with the sweltering heat the majority of eligible students had jumped at the chance to go to the village. The witch was starting to wonder if her other half had been one of those as she made her way through another deserted hall by the Hufflepuff dorms. A giggle came from up the corridor, tired and annoyed by the noise she turned her head, freezing at the sight before her.

"Ced, shouldn't we go to your dorm?" instantly Emily recognized the girl as the Ravenclaw seeker, she seemed to be messing with the hem of the Cedric's shirt as he kissed her neck.

"No, we can't be seen and you need to be quiet," he said pulling away, the girl looked like she wanted to protest so he leaned back down and kissed her. It seemed aggressive to the younger witch as she watched the other girl slammed harder back into the stone wall and yet the other girl giggled again as he pulled away. He reached behind her to open a door to the broom cupboard that was there and moved the other witch giving her a small push backwards before following her in without so much of a glance down the hall.

Emily didn't know what possessed her but she walked further down the hallway and stood outside of the door listening to the giggles and gasps of the other witch. So much for Cedric's desire to be quiet or perhaps he didn't care now that they were behind a closed door. Finally reaching out, she tried the handle to the door and it turned easily. Throwing open the door Cedric quickly spun around trying to hide the half-naked girl behind him. Seeing who it was he moved to grab his own shirt from where it had landed on the floor but Emily turned and quickly started running away. She had no idea what had spurred her to open the door but she wished she hadn't. She could hear the boy yelling after her but she ducked into a passage he was unlikely to be aware of and slipped back into the dungeons easily. She didn't stop running until she had made it back to Draco's room throwing open his door with a bang. The boy jumped at the sound and quickly gathered Emily into his arms.

"What's wrong?"

"I just caught Cedric…" Emily was taking deep breaths to try and slow her breathing after having run all that way.

"You just caught Cedric doing what?"

"He was with Cho Chang," she blurted out. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel, she was shocked surely but there was a small part of her that felt relief, while another wanted to rip his head off and another part of her felt a bit of pain.

"What do you mean?" Draco was starting to see red and Emily knew she needed to calm him down first.

"Dray it's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal? He was cheating on you, wasn't he?"

"I cheated on him!" she reminded the boy.

"Yeah but that's different!"

"How is that different?"

"You weren't a lying and controlling twat!"

"Technically I was lying, I never told him about it."

"It's still different, you shouldn't defend him!"

"I'm not defending him," Emily sighed as she moved to the bed and lied down. Covering her eyes with her hands she took another deep breath, "I just… I don't know."

The witch felt the bed move and her body be pulled into her friend's, "You don't have to know right now, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, I know you just want to protect me."

"I'll fight any man who hurts you."

"I know you will, but maybe this is all for the best. Now I have an excuse, I can just walk away. We weren't working out anyway and even without the whole Cho element he wasn't honest with me about his intentions, not once has he mentioned wanting a contract to me."

"I hate to say this but he's not going to give up easily," Draco sighed as he rubbed the witch's back.

"Weren't you the one just yesterday telling me to break up with him?"

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I think he will just walk away. I have no doubt his father will still be pushing for a contract to be written up, it will look bad for his image to have lost such a high value contract."

"So, what do I do?"

"You end it, if that's what you want."

"But you said he won't stop."

"Not right away and you need to be prepared for that. I think it will be fine though, we can talk to Father and I'm sure he can scare them off, you just need to be prepared for him to try to win you back for a while."

"Lovely."

The pair laid together for a few minutes in relative silence. Emily's mind was trying to process what she had seen. She knew it was a ridiculous thought, taking into account her own actions, but she kept wondering why she wasn't enough. Maybe the couple's troubles were her fault to begin with, she had hidden various things from him and she had been spending the majority of her time with Severus. It wasn't like Purebloods weren't known for having someone on the side. It was common in a world where you arranged marriages that one or both partners would stray. "Do you want to talk about it?" Draco asked.

"No."

"Are you sure," Draco reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I think this is affecting you more than you're saying."

Emily shrugged, "There's not much to say… I heard giggling, so I turned, slightly annoyed in my tired state, and saw them go into the broom cupboard. Don't ask me why I did it, but I followed them and stood outside of the door, when I opened it they were both in the process of undressing…"

"You opened the door?!"

Emily pushed herself away from her friend and buried her head in the pillow "Ugh! I don't know what I was thinking," she said rolling back over. "I couldn't help myself. He made such a big deal about Felix being the one who was fooling around with her. I don't know how I didn't see it before! She even approached us at the lakeside the other day, if he had been a Basilisk… "

"He probably wanted to stop her before she gave them away."

"I know but the way he acted… he said he didn't like her and I believed it. I knew something was off but the one thing that seemed clear was his disdain."

"He may not have been lying about that, he might really hate her."

"Great, so then why is he messing around with her in broom cupboards?!"

"So, you are upset."

"Slightly, I guess… but I feel like its really bad of me to be angry with him for something I also did."

"Sounds like they may have been doing this longer than your one-night fling, that's not the same thing… Unless you were planning on jumping into bed with Marcus again."

"Of course not!"

"Then you can't compare what he did to you."

"Except this is all just conjecture, I ran the second I realized what I had stumbled upon. I never gave him a chance to come clean."

"Do you want to give him a chance?"

"Not really, I want Severus to scare him away for eternity with threats of scrubbing cauldrons till he's dead." Draco laughed and Emily couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face at the thought of Cedric slaving away in the dungeons as Severus watched over him. "You know what I don't understand though, is why her? Is it stupid that I'm comparing her to me in my mind?"

"No, and there's no comparison. Rumor has it, Cho has been pretty loose since the beginning of the year. She broke up with some bloke and then in revenge seemed to be having her fun with multiple boys around the school. The only draw to her would be that she'll spread her legs if you flirt with her a little bit."

"How do I not hear these rumors?"

"You aren't a boy."

"I hang around one all the time."

"I highly doubt you care about which girls are up for a ride in the broom cupboard and which ones are so tightly wound its not even worth the time."

"Do you guys really talk about that stuff?"

Draco rolled his eyes at his best friend as he rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his arm, "Does it matter?"

"I guess I shouldn't be shocked, Liam and Felix had mentioned rumors about her but Cedric always played it off. There aren't any rumors like that about me are there?"

"Nothing other than the usual, you are the Dark Slytherin Princess out to one day kill us all."

Emily hit Draco with the pillow she had been using, "Very funny Mister."

"Has most of the boys intrigued really, will she kill you or love you…"

"Or enslave you…" the witch added, lowering her voice.

"I didn't offer that as an option."

"Pity, my poor fanged servants get so lonely…"

"Are you sure it's not hungry?"

"Well that could be fun too."

"See, the rumors are right, Dark Slytherin Princess I bow before thee!"

"You have to actually get off the bed to bow." This time it was Draco who hit his best friend with his pillow and shortly the pair were laughing loudly as feathers began to fly. After a few minutes they both collapsed back onto the bed, "Dray?"

"Yes, oh great Dark One?"

"I was serious, you really do have to get off the bed to bow."

"I'll do it later."

0o0oo0oo0o

It was after dinner that the pair left their dorm in search of food. They decided the quickest option was to take over Severus' quarters and have food brought to them there since they had skipped going to the Great Hall. The pair smiled at Marcus who was entering the common room as they were about to exit.

"Hey Little Snakes," he kissed Emily's forehead as he gave her a side hug. "Meeting Diggory?"

"No…" Emily said looking towards entrance. "Is he out there?"

"He's been out there since I left for dinner, I thought you were in Professor Snape's quarters though, so I just told him you probably weren't coming back tonight. I'm sorry, I hadn't seen you or I wouldn't have suggested he go back to his own dorms."

"It's no big deal, it's probably better that I don't see him right now."

"He didn't find out, did he? He didn't seem like he wanted to rip off my head," the guy smirked probably imagining Cedric attempting to attack him.

"I caught him with Cho Chang earlier."

The boy looked down at Emily and at Draco's nod turned back towards the entrance. The witch was quick to grab his arm and pull him back towards her. "He's not worth it, I'll face him later!"

"He can't do that to you!"

"See, he agrees with me," Draco looked smug as he nodded to the other boy.

"You two don't think it's a bit hypocritical?"

"No," they intoned together.

Shaking her head Emily motioned to the entrance, "Fine, Marcus can you check if he's gone. If he isn't, find a way to get rid of him that doesn't end in his death."

"Is the Hospital Wing okay?" Emily stared blankly at the boy as he chuckled and left the common room, a minute later he reappeared. "Well there goes my fun, he's gone."

"Thank you, Marcus." Emily moved swiftly towards the entrance leading Draco away.

"Anytime Little Snake and if you ever need a little muscle…"

Emily rolled her eyes as the pair stepped into the hallway and quickly assessed the area. No injured or hiding Hufflepuff was in sight so they set off at a brisk pace towards Severus' quarters. Luckily it seemed that Cedric hadn't decided to try waiting by the strict Professor's rooms.

The two settled in and called Tippy to bring them dinner. It wasn't long before they were joined by Severus who helped himself to the butterbeer.

"I hope Diggory didn't bother you today, I told him you weren't feeling well and that you would be resting in my private quarters." Emily looked over at her best friend who returned her gaze, that certainly explained why Cedric had been fooling around with someone else after Emily had told him she would spend the day with him. "What am I missing?" The two teens were silent as Draco shoved a pastry into his mouth to stop him from speaking, both were aware the Potions Master could very well try to kill the older boy. "One of you speak now."

"I didn't realize you had told him that and so I went looking for him. I promised I would spend the day with him."

"And?"

"And I found him in a broom cupboard with Cho Chang." There was an instant that Emily worried the man would lose it, his eyes narrowed and she could tell there was a fierce anger behind them. His face rapidly righted itself to its usual calm demeanor, but the witch knew better, he was likely internally plotting his own hell for the boy. "I see, and I assume this is the end of Mr. Hufflepuff."

Emily nodded, "I haven't broken it off yet, but yes it's over."

"Good." The group was silent for a moment as Severus took a sip of his drink.

"Are you going to kill him?" Draco asked looking a bit hopeful at the answer.

"Not today."

Emily rolled her eyes at the pair but couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at having people who genuinely cared for her in her life.

0o0oo0oo0o0

Before Emily knew it the week came to a close and somehow the witch had managed to avoid her soon to be ex-boyfriend. She hadn't done it completely on purpose but she also wasn't sure yet what to say, though she knew shortly she would have no choice but to speak to him as they would both be on the train heading back into London to go home for the summer.

Emily and Draco were some of the first students to board the train that day, leaving them with a large selection of carriages to choose from. Once they were settled, they were soon joined by Daphne and Blaise. Emily and Draco had taken the same bench with the witch's feet lying in her best friend's lap, so the other two were forced to sit next to each other and Emily wondered if the pair knew that they each fancied the same boy due to the awkward way they kept glancing at the other. Draco for his part seemed not to notice and smiled as he set aside the letter Lucius had sent him that morning.

"Blaise, will you be going to the World Cup this summer?"

"My Mother hasn't said one way or the other, I guess it depends on Sofia's family."

"So your betrothed has a name," Daphne teased, the Italian had been quite mum on his upcoming betrothal.

"Of course she does." He looked annoyed as he pulled out his book.

"You don't speak of her much," Emily added looking over at the boy.

"Or at all," Daphne mumbled.

"I don't really know her well," Blaise answered as he searched for his place in his book. "It's a contract, not a friendship."

"But don't you want to be friends with her?" Daphne looked over at Draco, "You'll be married to her one day and you'll have to live together."

"Don't tell me the ice queen has dreams of living happily ever after?" Blaise flipped his page, though there was no way he had read a word on it. "You know as perfectly well as I do that most contracts are formed for gains not for love. What do you think a mistress is for?"

Emily could see Daphne about to bite back and decided she would stop the cat fight that was about to ensue. "If a woman is a mistress, what do you call a male one?"

The group paused and thought on the question as the door to the compartment opened revealing a solemn looking Cedric. "Em, can we talk?"

"Of course," she answered looking at the boy but making no attempt to move from where she was sitting.

"In private."

"I'm fine where I am."

"Emily," the boy pinched his nose in annoyance.

"What? The train is about to leave, I highly doubt there is a more private place than this."

Looking behind him, Cedric must have realized the witch was correct since he moved into the compartment and closed the door behind him. "I need to apologize for my behavior, but you must understand why I did it."

Emily shook her head, "Why must I understand?"

"I'm older than you…"

"I'm aware."

"And that means I want things you may not be ready for."

"Or perhaps, that's all the more reason to be honest with me and tell me what you want. Not go sneaking behind my back."

"This wasn't a permanent thing though, this was just a temporary solution till I thought you were ready, Cho had been hitting on me for over a year…"

"Wasn't she dating a Gryff last year?" Blaise interjected drawing the older boy's attention.

"Didn't seem to stop her though," Cedric answered turning back to Emily. "The night when you didn't come back to the dorm with me, after our date in Hogsmeade, I ran into her in the hallways and I thought it was a good solution for the time being."

"I don't care why you did it, you were still lying to me."

"And you weren't doing the same, with all your late evening lessons with Professor Snape?!"

Emily felt Draco tense and looking down she noticed his wand was grasped tightly in his hand, "You know that was different, brewing a potion does not equate to messing around in a broom cupboard."

"This shouldn't be such a big deal."

"And how would you feel if it had been me that was caught in a broom cupboard?" The boy's mouth opened and then shut again, clearly unsure how to answer without saying exactly what she wanted from him which was to admit that he wouldn't have been okay if the shoe was on the other foot.

"This is common for age gaps," Cedric said trying to avoid answering. "A lot of contracts have clauses for cases such as this, I was thinking of you."

There were snorts of derision from the other three occupants who were listening in on the conversation, no one for a second believed he had Emily's wellbeing in mind.

"We don't have a contract," Emily answered calmly giving away no indication that she knew of his intentions. "We are merely dating, I haven't seen any documents outlining that I agree you can see other people until I feel ready to give you what you want…"

"I…"

Cedric looked over to Draco who shrugged, "Father hasn't said anything to me about an agreement."

"Well the plan was to discuss it this summer."

"Discuss what?" Emily asked playing dumb.

"Our contract, or the proposal of one."

"If I understand correctly as of right now, I am the only person who can agree to a contract and right now I do not feel so inclined to listen to any proposals that I cannot even sign for another year."

"Emily, be reasonable."

"I am and I think you need to leave now." The train finally lurched into motion and the witch looked around the compartment, "We would like to enjoy our ride back to London in peace."

Cedric seemed to realize that he had lost for the moment and bowed slightly to the girl, "We will discuss this again later," with that he quickly exited.

"Is that true?" Daphne asked after a few minutes of silence. "Do you really get to sign your own contract?"

"As far as we can tell I have no acting Magical Guardian other than the Malfoys, I will have to sign any offer I agree to once I receive my inheritance at 15."

"Must be nice to have that freedom," the witch said leaning back against the booth.

"You're in good hands though," Emily answered nudging Draco with her foot who merely rolled his eyes at her actions.

The group settled back in and were quiet as they sped off in the direction of Kings Cross Station. When the trolley had made its way through the cabin Draco had purchased various sweets and drinks for the group. Handing Emily a butterbeer, his focus turned to the window and he moved to open it allowing a tiny owl into the compartment. It landed on the witch's lap and she untied the letter with her name on it. "It still has one for Harry."

"I can take the owl to his compartment," Daphne offered standing up. "I need to find Neville anyway."

Emily passed the excited little bird over to the other witch who left the room. Draco sat closely to her obviously intending to read it with her.

 _Dear Emily,_

 _I hope this finds you before you reach London, mostly because that means Harry will receive his before he returns to your aunt and uncle and from what I remember of them, they were never fond of our world. I do not wish for him to start off his summer already in trouble with the muggles._

 _I wanted you to know I have gone into hiding, I cannot divulge where at the moment, but hopefully I can let you in on the secret soon. I have been in contact with Old Grey Beard and we have agreed on a course of action for the next year. I should at the very least be safe as I recover from the past few years in Azkaban and not to mention the majority of the last year living as Padfoot._

 _I have been informed that the dementors have been removed from the castle, of which I am glad, and I was also informed that it was the strength of both you and your brother that saved me from being kissed the other night. My heart is immensely saddened that I must remain away from the both of you but I am extremely proud in what I have been told and eternally grateful for both of your strength._

 _Mooney is helping me get settled and I must say I am impressed at what I have been told about you. Your mother would be beaming knowing she had a daughter who was just as studious as her (Ranked first in your year is no small feat!) and your father would be just as happy knowing you love a good adventure. Even Old Grey Beard was singing your praises, I only wished I had been around to watch you grow as was my responsibility. I do not know if Harry informed you, but I am your Godfather. It was my duty to raise you and I apologize for my absence._

 _I should probably let you know that the Firebolt you received at Christmas was from me. Mooney does not know if you like flying, so I hope it was not a poor assumption that you would enjoy the broom. Your father was an amazing flyer and if nothing else I hope it can bring you a little joy from time to time._

 _I know you live with the Malfoys now and if Mooney is to be believed, they have taken you on as their own. Thank my cousin Cissy for me (yes call her Cissy, she will not believe it was me otherwise). While I admit it was a bit shocking to hear you and your brother were not sorted together, there have been many a talented wizard in Slytherin House and you will find no judgement on your placement from me. Most of my family have been sorted into Slytherin and your grandma, Dorea Potter was one as well._

 _I know I am a new addition to your life, and I cannot apologize enough for all those years you had to suffer through the muggles because of my rash choices (am I allowed to blame my Gryffindor tendencies?) but I hope that we can begin to open lines of communication. I want to know my goddaughter and the amazing witch she is becoming._

 _If you need anything at all send your owl, or even if you just want a good story about your parents, I am from here on out at your service._

 _I hope to hear from you soon,_

 _Sirius_

"That was actually nice," Draco said settling back into the seat. "Are you going to write back?"

"When we get home, right now I just want one of those licorice wands."

Draco tossed the candy over to the girl and soon found he once again had her feet in his lap. The group enjoyed the rest of the ride into London, looking forward to the summer ahead.


	49. Odd Dreams

**49**

Harry woke with a start and ran his hands over his face, as they brushed his scar he felt a strong throbbing pain run through his body. He was sweating as he pushed himself from his bed and stumbled over to his wardrobe, desperately looking around his room in case anything might jump out at him. Opening the door, he peered into the mirror and was greeted by the sight of a scrawny teenage boy with bright green eyes and messy black hair. His eyes seemed to glow brighter and his heart started to race…

Emily sat straight up in her bed, attempting to catch her breath. Pushing herself back so she could rest against the headboard, she pulled her knees and the covers up to her chest. By the Goddess, her dream was nothing like one she had ever had before.

"Mipsy," she called out softly, her voice shaky as she used it for the first time since waking.

The tired elf quickly popped into the room with a small bow. Taking in the girl before her the elf rushed to her Mistress' side, "Is Mistress okay?" The elf was shortly on the bed and feeling the teens head in worry, checking for any signs of illness.

"I'm fine, I just had a bad dream."

The elf looked skeptical and felt the girl's head one more time before nodding. "What can Mipsy do for Mistress?"

"Can I have some coffee please?"

"But coffee keeps Mistress up, and yous need to sleep."

"I promise if I'm grumpy tomorrow, no one will know it was because you gave me coffee in the middle of the night."

The elf stared at the witch for a minute before nodding her head and disappearing from the bed. Emily let her head fall back against the headboard as she waited for the elf to return. Thoughts and images were running across her mind and she was trying to sort them as best as she could. Someone had been killed, more would die or would they?

"Mistress…"

Emily looked down at the worried elf who had her arm out stretched with the mug of coffee. Emily smiled at Mipsy in hopes it would appease her fears. "I'm fine, just tired."

"Then yous no need coffee." The elf started to pull her arm back but Emily leaned forward and took the cup from the elf.

"No, I do," the witch said taking a sip and enjoying the warmth on her hands as they held the mug tightly. "You may go Mipsy."

The elf hesitated but knew she was being dismissed, with a bow she vanished once again from the witch's sight.

It wasn't long before Emily felt Isis slither up the bed and curl up next to her. The snake nudged her head against the witch's arm and Emily moved so the snake could put her head on the teen's legs. Emily smiled down at her pet who had clearly come to offer comfort but was fast asleep within seconds.

In the silence, the girl's mind drifted towards her strange dream. Pettigrew had clearly made it to Voldemort and was assisting him by now, but what Emily didn't understand was if her own imagination had made up the dream or was she really seeing what was happening right now possibly hundreds of miles away from her. The pair had mentioned the World Cup and something that involved Harry… Pettigrew had seemed pretty insistent that Emily was the stronger of the twins and should be used, for what exactly though the girl didn't know, but Voldemort would hear nothing of it. Voldemort wanted to use Harry and he wanted Emily brought to him unharmed. The witch assumed his desire for her brother would likely end in his death. It still baffled her as to why being twins that he would want to kill one but possess the other. It most likely came down to this elusive prophecy that no one seemed willing to divulge to her yet.

It was very annoying that Voldemort and Pettigrew hadn't been clearer with their plans, and perhaps that was what made the witch think her mind might have created this dream. In a deserted manor what could possibly have made the two wizards be so secretive, it wasn't likely that others knew where they were… then again that poor old muggle… If he was real he was at least no longer in pain, he had seemed crippled slightly by one of his legs as he had climbed the staircase towards the room where Voldemort had been residing and if he was of her own making, then there was no need to feel bad in the first place.

What was bothering Emily the most, was that she had seemed to first come to in Harry's body and not her own. She had recognized Dudley's second bedroom instantly. A few things had been moved around, but it was almost exactly the same as it had been when she left the Dursley's house before attending her first year at Hogwarts. It had been a slight shock to see her brother's reflection when the cupboard had been opened, though it was the brightness of his eyes in the mirror and the flashing of that deadly green color that forced her to wake up in her own bed. Had she really been experiencing what Harry was or was this all some odd creation of her mind…

Emily took a sip of her coffee and sighed as she reached up with one hand to rub her shoulder, an odd throbbing was coming from the area of her scar. Rolling her shoulder a few times the pain seemed to lessen a bit and the witch dismissed it as having slept in some weird fashion.

Deciding she needed to do something other than stare into the darkness, Emily summoned some paper and a quill to respond to Sirius and Bill's latest letters. Waving her wand several balls of light burst into existence over her casting a glow allowing her to see what she was writing.

 _Sirius,_

 _Life is going well at the Manor. We have daily exercises in the dueling chamber and my competence for occlumency is ever improving. Severus says we will try reversing roles soon. He thinks it may be beneficial if not only can I block mental intrusions but also be the intruder. Of course, that is only effective when you don't have to say the spell out loud and give away your intentions. Severus thinks I will need to use verbal commands until I am stronger in mind magic. Makes me feel like a first year again... Yes, I know, others my age do not use as many non-verbal spells as I do but I never was okay with just being average._

 _I'm glad to hear the Wolfsbane I sent worked out, its good to know I can brew a competent batch without help. I do wonder though if that goblet is still sitting in the shack from my first try, even if it is it probably has gone off not being under stasis. Oh well, though it might be interesting to see what happened to it, the ingredients are all rather strong…_

 _No word of the Diggorys still, I'm sure Narcissa told you that Lucius scared Amos practically to death. He made it quite clear that unless I saw fit to forgive Cedric he saw no point in forcing the issue. He also may have promised to teach Cedric a lesson on hurting one of his children should he decide to try and visit. So no need to go all escaped mass murderer on them, for now._

 _I probably should try to go back to sleep here shortly, I had the oddest dream and woke up a bit unsettled. Random question but is there much research on magical twins? The first time I woke up tonight I swore I was seeing through Harry's eyes and not my own… (I told you it was an odd dream). Anyway, I will send this with Narcissa in the morning when she heads off to visit you._

 _Hope your recovery is going well,_

 _Emily_

The witch reread the letter and determined it was a decent enough response to his earlier missive. It wasn't long after returning to the Manor that Narcissa had received a letter from an odd looking bird and quickly vanished for a few days. It turns out she had been assisting in setting up care for Sirius' recovery at a Black family home in France where he and Remus could remain hidden but get the help they needed, without tipping off the Ministry in London. She visited them once a week to make sure everything was moving forward smoothly and curried letters between the young witch and her Godfather. Emily wouldn't say she felt super familiar with the man yet but he seemed eager to create a relationship with her and answer any questions she had. For now, that was enough and maybe when she was allowed to visit him that budding relationship could grow into a strong familial one.

Pulling over another parchment Emily hesitated slightly before putting her quill to paper again.

 _Bill,_

 _How are your last few days in Egypt going? Is everyone sad to see you go? I can't even imagine all the amazing things you've have seen and discovered while there. One day it would be amazing to visit, if for nothing else but to see the intricate creations and paintings from so long ago. I finished the book you sent and my mind races with the thoughts of what it must have been like to walk the earth in those ancient times, to be exalted for your magic instead of feared. It's a feeling in modern times we will never know._

 _Speaking of modern times though, Lucius says you aren't going to the World Cup with us but that you will be doing the Manor wards afterwards. Perhaps then, you can explain exactly where this new position you accepted through Gringotts is taking you. It sounds like it's going to be an interesting year all around, including Hogwarts. Lucius says they are bringing back the Triwizard Cup. Frankly, from what I have read on it, I can't see the appeal of reviving such a tournament but then again, I won't have to participate so what should I care._

 _Also, it seems Lucius has been telling too many people about Cedric, he cheated, we're over and there will be no contract. I'm not upset over it, I had a few tears the day I discovered it but now I've settled with indifference. If I'm honest it was never going to work, he seems so reluctant about his future and the things I was learning about him were worrisome. Draco is of course pleased, you should have seen the smirk on his face after Lucius made it quite clear to Amos what he would do to his son if he showed his face here anytime soon._

 _In other news, there really isn't much to tell you until you get here. We need your help with something but due to the nature of the topic we'll need you here before more can be said._

 _Enjoy the sun and desert while you still can (though Merlin knows, Apollo will be pleased not to have to make the journey for much longer)_

 _Em_

Looking over at his perch, it was clear Apollo was still asleep so Emily decided she would send the letter off to Bill in the morning. With a flick of her hand the quill and parchment floated to the night stand. Deciding she could use a bit more sleep, she snuggle back down into her bed as Isis adjusted to stay curled up with the human. With a yawn, Emily stroked the snake's head that now rested on her chest as she was lulled back to sleep in the silence.


	50. The Campsite

**50**

Saturday and Sunday passed as they normally would at the Manor. The family enjoyed breakfast together before the two teens, Draco and Emily, would spend an hour or two on dueling practice then move on for a thirty minute session on Occlumency before having the rest of the day to enjoy at their leisure. The pair often chose to go out for a fly on the pitch or when tired they could be found relaxing in the library reading one of the many tomes by the large fireplace.

Today was different though, the Quidditch Cup was being hosted by the British Ministry of Magic and Emily was attending the game with Lucius and Draco. Severus was very adamant that he did not want to attend and had been coerced to go with Narcissa to ensure Sirius and Lupin's potion stores were stocked properly. Emily was certain the man had almost changed his mind on attending but apparently a few hours in France with a man he hated still sounded better to him than a stadium of screaming fans watching a quidditch match.

"I want you both to have a good time but remember to listen to you Father, if he says you're leaving…"

"We leave," Draco finished for his mother before looking at Emily and rolling his eyes. Narcissa had become very protective of the young witch and Emily was not allowed to leave the grounds of the Manor without an adult present which was a bit of a bummer for the teens, who having been old enough to roam Hogsmeade this past year at school, had wanted to spend more of their summer in London, both the muggle and magical sides. Everyone felt uneasy after the developments at the end of the teens' third year and the prophecy that was given.

"I know you think I'm being ridiculous, but this is going to be a very large crowd and ensuring no one slips in to grab Emily is important."

"We're not going to be among the crowd for long," Draco countered. "And we've trained harder than anyone else at Hogwarts, we've earned some down time."

Narcissa seemed to hesitate with her response and looked pleadingly over to her husband as he entered the room.

"Yes, you have," he said smiling at the teens. Kissing his wife on the forehead he turned and looked at the pair in front of him, "Your mother merely worries, times will be changing and she's right to warn you. While the Dark Lord is still in hiding, people are not likely to attribute wrong doings to his cause, and until he calls either Severus or I, we will very much be in the dark about his movements."

"Has anything been going wrong?" Emily asked worried that she might have missed something in the papers.

"Bertha Jorkins went missing about a month ago while on a trip to Albania. It would not usually be something that would catch my attention, Bertha is well known to be pretty incapable of the most basic of tasks. I believe she has been shunted between ten different departments by now and the number of times she has been found wandering the halls trying to find her office is far too many to count. If she had been gone a few extra days, no one would really notice it, she has done it before why not again. To be gone a full month though, and to have been traveling to the last known location where Dumbledore expects the Dark Lord to be hiding…"

"You think she stumbled upon him?"

"Perhaps, gratefully for us her loss will not cause much harm. When a woman is that forgetful, people do not tend to share confidential information with them, but there is always the possibility she stumbled onto something she should not have. She would be very little use to the Dark Lord either way. If she has crossed his path, she will be dead by now."

"Has anyone attempted to look for her?"

"No, Ludo Bagman who is the Head of Magical Games and Sports is her current supervisor and he seems unphased by her disappearance."

"Probably pleased to be rid of her," Severus added joining the group.

Lucius nodded, "With the World Cup and helping to plan the Triwizard Tournament, his time is dominated by matters more important then where she has wondered off to this time."

"I doubt they could spare many people to go searching for her with all of that going on," Narcissa added. "Perhaps you could suggest sending a Hit Wizard or two out to search for her."

"There's not many of them to spare right now either, perhaps it's nothing."

Severus scoffed, it was clear none of the adults believed the woman's disappearance was an accident. "The woman is likely dead, no need to waste resources that will only join her in misfortune. Now, I believe we need to depart. Merlin only knows what the potion stores must look like, and I want to be back to check on one of my own projects at an appropriate time."

Narcissa smirked at the sour man before turning to kiss her husband goodbye. "We will see you all tomorrow morning?"

Lucius and Severus exchanged a look before the blonde nodded to his wife, "Yes, tomorrow morning. You two enjoy France."

Narcissa said quick goodbyes to the teens as Severus rolled his eyes before offering his arm to his friend to escort her from the room. It wasn't long before they heard the woosh of the floo from the next room over.

"Are you both packed and ready?"

The teens nodded their heads, the plan was to attend a breakfast with the Minister and several other dignitaries before heading to the stadium to take in the game. Their elves had set up a tent that they would be staying in overnight on the grounds. Lucius had hesitated about not having the teens return to the Manor for the night but both thought the idea of 'camping' sounded fun. Plus, Draco had argued, that games had been known to go on for days in the past and it was part of the experience to stay on the grounds.

"Good, our portkey is in the Floo Room."

The group made their way to the next room over and held on to the rope that Lucius held out. He tapped the object with his wand and Emily started the five second count down in her head as she had been told. When she reached 'one' she felt a tug start to pull her forward. Everything was spinning and moving so quickly, and then suddenly she could feel the pulling sensation start to release her. Letting go of the rope as she had been taught, she jumped or at least tried to make the motion of jumping and landed successfully on her feet next to Draco and Lucius.

Lucius gave her a sharp nod of approval before a short man wearing a long dark suit approached them. "It's good to see you Lord Malfoy." The man gave a deep bow before nodding to both teens. "It's wonderful you were able to bring your son and Heiress Potter."

"Of course, we could not turn down such a gracious offer from Cornelius."

"I think it is you, who is gracious to us My Lord."

"Thank you, Rupert. Will you be joining us this morning?"

"No, I must stay here and ensure the rest of the Lords make it safely at their designated times."

Lucius nodded and motioned for the teens to follow him as he headed towards a large looking tent in the clearing in front of them. They had landed in a rather wooded area and looking back Emily could see the suited man writing something on a piece of parchment.

"Isn't this our tent?" Draco asked taking Emily's arm to help her through the wooded path in her heels. Narcissa had been insistent that she would need to be more dressed up, even if they were going to a Quidditch match. With her inheritance only a year away now, she needed to portray herself as the heiress to an Ancient House that she was, even at a Quidditch match. She was dressed in black jeans (they had been a compromise), a dark green blouse and a black and dark emerald green cloak. She felt a touch better as Draco was wearing slacks and a white button down with a black and green cloak similar to the witch's.

"It is, I have loaned it to the Minister for this meal as he will not be staying on the grounds tonight."

The teens nodded and followed the man as several Hit Wizards stepped aside to allow them entrance. Inside the tent was much larger than it appeared from outside. The room they were standing in had a small entry that lead to a larger space where a long wooden table was set up, even a chandelier hung from the high pitch of the tent. Emily had been told about magical tents, but it was fascinating to finally be inside of one and see the incredible magic at work. Off to the right of the table was a seating area with several couches and chairs set up by a fireplace. There had to be about ten or so men all standing there and talking in various groups. The minister, ever noticeable by his love of green striped attire, was speaking with a man in a deep red cloak and a rather sour looking older gentleman who had on a grey pinstriped suit, he kept adjusting his jacket clearly uncomfortable, perhaps he was not fond of muggle suits or was not one for the direct attentions of the Minister.

"Lucius!" Fudge greeted loudly, leaving his two companions behind as he noticed the newcomers. Lucius shook the man's hand and Fudge smiled widely. "I'm glad you're here, Barty just arrived with the Bulgarian Minister, Obalonsk, a few minutes ago." The man's voice lowered as he leaned into the blonde Lord, "And I don't think he understands a word I'm saying. If you could assist, Barty is feeling slightly off today and we need to keep the man happy."

"Of course, I would be happy to entertain the Minister while we dine. You of course know my son Draco and Heiress Potter."

The man turned and bowed to Draco before accepting the young witch's hand and kissing it, "Yes, yes! I'm delighted you both could join us as well. Come let us eat before we head to the match. Everyone," he called out turning back towards the others, "let us take our seats!"

At the announcement people started moving towards the long table in the middle of the tent. Lucius headed straight towards, whom Emily assumed must be the Bulgarian Minister, with a bow the two were quickly speaking in another tongue and taking their places at the table. Draco escorted Emily to the spot across from Lucius and Minister Obalonsk.

Once everyone was seated Fudge stood, "I would first like to thank Lucius for his graciousness and use of this lovely tent as we celebrate this morning. I welcome Minister Obalonsk and all of you who have made today possible. It is an honor for us to be able to host such a beloved event. Lucius, since this is your table I feel it only right you lead us in the offering."

With a nod Lucius rose gracefully and raised his goblet. "Oh God who rose from the darkness and Goddess ever fruitful, we thank you and reserve a seat for you at our table. May you grant us continued blessings and ever strengthen us with this bountiful meal." All bowed their heads briefly in the direction of the vacant spot at the end of the table. After a few moments of silence an apple appeared on the empty setting, "Accept this small offering of our gratitude for your continued power." With a snap of his fingers the apple vanished into smoke. "The offering is done, may we all now enjoy this meal before us."

As he sat down, the Bulgarian Minister leaned into Lucius and patted the man's shoulder, it was obvious he approved of the blessing. It wasn't often witches and wizards blessed their meals, it was usually done on rare occasions since most blessings and offerings occurred on large feast days such as Yule or Samhain, but it was a sign of respect and coming together that showed everyone at the table, whether they were from here or not, that they were all connected by the magic that flowed through them and it was their belief in the ancients that strengthened them. It was a custom Emily found rather fascinating, it reminder her a bit of muggle religion yet it was much more archaic in practice than anything modern muggles tended to preach about.

Breakfast was a rather boring affair for the teens. Emily and Draco made small talk with those around them. Many asked about their time at Hogwarts and if they enjoyed their lessons. Lucius was happy to point out that Emily and Draco were ranked in the top two spots of their year which earned several nods of approval. Emily noticed the only person who seemed to not be participating was the man in the pinstripe suit, who she now knew to be Barty Crouch. He looked nervous and highly uncomfortable, it was like at any moment he expected someone to come running into the tent. He practically jumped to his feet when one of the elves presented him with his fruit tart for dessert.

When everyone had finished, Mr. Crouch quickly excused himself, claiming he needed to find Bagman and ensure he wasn't causing too much of a scene. "He likes to gamble," Draco whispered to Emily as the pair rose. "Probably wants to make sure the guy isn't making us look bad by taking bets on the game." Straightening out his cloak he offered his hand to his best friend, "Father we would like to go and look at the grounds."

Lucius smiled at the pair and pulled out a small coin purse and tossed it to his son, "You two enjoy but meet us at the entrance as soon as the gong sounds."

The pair were quick to agree to a moment of freedom, rapidly making their way out of the tent before the man could change his mind. The two began to wander down the path in the direction they were informed the majority of the campers would be set up. It was obvious the tent they were staying in was in a more private section of the woods with very few other tents around and Hit Wizards stationed at various points.

"I thought they wanted people to appear more muggle like," Emily said taking in the scene before them as they looked out on the many tents clustered together. Everywhere one looked there was no denying this was a magical gathering. Children flew on toddler broomsticks and vendors apparated into being, peddling their goods through the site.

"It's hard to enforce something like that with this many people, better to just obliviate the few muggles who run this site than waste the energy trying to convince everyone to stop what comes natural to them."

Emily shrugged, she couldn't argue with the logic. "So, where to first?"

"There's some actual carts over there," Draco said pointing off to the right. "Probably more authentic than the ones wandering around the site."

The pair headed off and joined the many people perusing the various goods that were being sold. There were Omnioculars, programs, jerseys and all kinds of various trinkets available for sale. As the pair were examining one of the stands Emily heard a familiar voice, "We should take these back for the twins and Ginny."

"What about Ron and his friends?"

"I think they have already invested in some Omnioculars, over at the far stand."

"Bill," Emily said walking around the corner of the cart to reveal the man standing next to another redhead, who Emily recognized from her second year, as his brother Charlie.

"Em," his face broke into a smile as he embraced the girl. "Is Draco with you?"

"I'm never far," the blonde drawled examining the dragon tamer with a bored look before turning his attention to Bill. "Father would kill me if I allowed her to wander alone."

Bill laughed, "Yes, we wouldn't want her to end up having another adventure."

Draco scoffed, "You don't know the half of it." He turned and picked up one of the roses that the redheads had been looking at before setting it down again. "I'm going to go back and grab us each a program, everything else seems rather dull. Em, stay with Bill till I get back."

As Draco walked off Emily noticed what must have drawn the blonde away, a certain Italian wizard was currently checking out the program stand.

"He's quite serious about you not being alone." Bill looked worriedly down at Emily. "Is everything okay?"

"I thought you had spoken with Lucius."

"Briefly, by letter. I've been back and forth between here and Egypt, there hasn't been much time to get up to speed on everything. Your last letter didn't say much either, just to wait till I saw you after the Cup."

"I didn't think you were coming to the Cup."

"I helped with the wards, I had to be here one way or another but my father asked me to come with the family so I had to decline Lucius' invitation."

"I see, are you excited? I hear you took Lucius up on the offer and are moving into the townhouse next week."

"I did and I see you are avoiding answering my question." Emily glanced over at the dragon tamer and waved at the man who was looking between the pair with a large smile. "Right, Emily this is my brother Charlie, the dragon tamer. Charlie this is Heiress Potter."

"It's very nice to meet you, Heiress Potter," the man held out his hand and Emily accepted it, allowing him to kiss it in greeting.

"You may call me Emily."

"Thank you, and you can call me Charlie, no dragon tamer needed." Emily laughed while Bill rolled his eyes. "I didn't know Bill here had such a beautiful friend, how long have you two known each other?"

"Just over two years now," Emily answered earning a nod from the Curse Breaker.

"How did you two meet?"

"She lives with the Malfoy's, so I met her when I was working on their wards."

"I see."

Emily could see Charlie wanted to ask something of his brother but clearly her presence was stopping him. He just kept smiling at his brother and Emily had no idea what caused him to look so happy and amused all at once. "I think I should find Draco, if I heard you correctly you will want to get those roses to your family before the game."

"Didn't Draco say you weren't supposed to be alone?" Bill questioned looking around the carts.

"He's just right there." Emily pointed to where Draco was standing with Blaise, the two looked to be in a heated discussion about something. "I'll be fine to walk a few steps by myself."

"I could walk you over there while Charlie pays for these."

Emily put her hand on Bill's chest, "Please not you too, I already have three very over protective men in my life right now."

"You'll fill me in on everything?"

"I always do."

He looked at her for a moment before nodding in agreement. "We're sitting in the Minister's box, Amos Diggory got my father our tickets."

"I see." The witch knew that was his way of letting her know Cedric would be there.

"Em…"

"It will be okay. I'll see you both shortly for the game." Sending a gentle pulse of magic through her hand and into Bill she bowed her head slightly at the pair and made her way over to her best friend who was in a staring contest with Blaise. "You two look like you're having a blast over here!"

Blaise bowed to the witch, "I will see you on the train."

"Well, he is just a ray of sunshine today," Emily said taking her friends arm.

"Says the Queen of Darkness. Weren't you supposed to wait with Bill?"

"I could clearly see you from where we were and they needed to get back to their family. Apparently, Amos Diggory acquired tickets for his family and the Weasleys in the Minister's box."

"Of course he did, the little weasel. If he tries to approach you…"

"He'll be careful, we'll be in public."

"Which he will try to use to his advantage."

"Probably," Emily said steering her friend towards the pastry cart. "But before we worry about any of that you did promise me one of those cinnamon puff pastry things. Did you get the programs?"

"Of course," the boy held up the two programs in his free hand. "You do realize there will be food and drinks in the box?"

"I know, but it's not very lady like to eat a lot in settings like that."

"You have been having too many etiquette lessons this summer. This is meant to be a fun outing!"

"Says the boy having a standoff with a cute Italian while everyone is nervous about me being alone and there are Hit wizards all over this site probably thinking Sirius Black will show up at any second to knab me. Just humor me, this is part of having fun. You, me and some delicious pastries."

0o0oo0oo0o0

Charlie paid for the roses as his brother watched the young witch make her way over to the Malfoy Heir. Once the two teens started to head off towards one of the carts Bill turned to his brother but must have noticed the grin on his face and groaned. "Out with it, before we get back to the tent."

"You do the wards for the Malfoys."

"Is that really all you had to say?"

"I knew you were doing wards for some of the Lords back home I just didn't expect you to be so close to them."

"Is there going to be a problem with that?"

"Its not me you should be worried about, but the banshee we call a mother on the other hand… does she know you are going to be living in one of the Malfoy homes?"

"As far as she is concerned, I still work in Egypt. She knows I took the job for the tournament, she just thinks I will be out wrapping up things at the dig until the term starts at Hogwarts."

"And if she finds out that's not true?"

"I'll deal with that when it happens."

The brothers both moved out of the way of a child zooming past who was followed closely behind by their father yelling for them to stop. Once the path was clear the pair started walking again. "And what about Heiress Potter?"

"What about her?"

There was a tensing through his brother's body and Charlie knew he was entering a very sensitive topic but that had never stopped him before. "You two seem close."

"We are."

"How close?"

"Charlie."

"No, I'm serious." The dragon tamer reached out and stopped his brother from getting too far ahead of him and turned him around. "You've never wanted to live here since you graduated and then suddenly a little over a year ago you are talking about wanting to change to the London branch. You've stopped dating, and don't give me that bollocks that you are bored with the girls around your site. We both know you used to spend a few days traveling to other locations and could find a nice bird or two on those trips but even that's stopped. Is it because of her?"

"No," Bill answered but Charlie wasn't sure if he believed him. "It's just time. I'm getting older and if I'm ever going to settle down it won't be with some random girl on one of my digs. I need this change, I'm tired of the stag life."

"She's rather pretty, she certainly doesn't look her age." The witch rather exuded a strong presence, there was a level of power to her that any man would find enchanting but mix that with her looks and the Heiress was a knockout. "I was rather surprised she is Harry's twin."

"They are very night and day. You can't compare them to each other, Emily practices magic far beyond her years. She was reading about runes when I met her at the age of twelve. Her understanding of magic sometimes rivals my own…"

"Are you sure you haven't fallen for her?" Bill leveled a glare at his brother. "Fine, if it's not the Girl-Who-Lived, who is it?"

"It really isn't anyone," Bill pushed. "I just needed a change and the jobs here opened at the right time. If I'm honest I don't know if I can find what I'm looking for here either but I need to try."

Charlie smiled at his brother and patted his shoulder, "Okay I get it, but if anything changes, I expect _all_ the details."

"Nothing besides my location is changing right now but I'll be sure to keep you updated."

"Good man! Now let's get back to the tent, the game should be starting soon." As the pair headed off down the path again Charlie got the feeling his brother truly believed the words he had spoken but the dragon tamer wasn't so sure. One thing he was certain of was that his brother clearly cared deeply for the young witch he had just met and try as he might to deny it there was a part of him falling for the witch.

0o0oo0oo0o0

Draco shook his head at his friend but was an easy sell once he saw the chocolate croissants that not only had chocolate inside but were made with a chocolate puff pastry dough as well. The woman was extremely kind and even gave them an extra eclair and palmier with a strawberry drizzle to try. The pair thanked the woman and left a nice tip as they headed off to a quiet spot just back in the tree line by one of the many Hit Wizards to enjoy their treats.

"The brother was attractive," Draco commented.

"He's a dragon tamer, I think part of the definition of the job is being fit."

The pair laughed, "Well, Bill will be in London now so maybe that image in the mirror will come true and I can hang out with his brother."

"And what about Daphne?"

Draco took a bite of his croissant, "I told Father to go ahead with the betrothal, we're friends and it will be good for the business."

"You know she isn't looking for a friendship."

"It will grow to more, that doesn't mean I can't admire the beautiful people around me."

"Like cute Italian wizards or perhaps that woman lying out in the sun over there in her shamrock bathing suit. Honestly, you look like you might drool."

"Malfoys do not drool."

"Whatever you say but you have something right here," Emily pointed to a spot at the corner of the boy's mouth. Draco merely rolled his eyes and tossed a napkin at the witch.

The teens laughed and enjoyed the dwindling afternoon as they watched the frenzy of the campsite from the shade. Time passed by quickly and before they knew it the gong sounded and lights started to illuminate the path to the stadium.


End file.
